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Reviews
Pank (2018)
Makes you understand Estonia
Even though there are few moments where the script or acting fails a bit this is very unique story in world of TV series. The brief history of Estonia independence during past 20-30 years offers interesting environment for storytelling in world of finance and patriotism. Characters feel real and they develop throughout the series.
Kalevala - uusi aika (2013)
Fascinating story behind the strange acting
At first the movie feels like the old 50-80's Finnish movies with theatre style acting. The dialog and acting seems a bit clumsy or unintendedly comic. However, during the film this acting style and storytelling turns out to be a key to bring out the story. The story is about humanity and strong emotion states in the actors are used to deliver this message. Towards the end of the movie the director Jari Halonen manages to create an unique and magical atmosphere of storytelling which is too rarely present in movies in general.
The story itself is somewhat complex but interesting. Viewers without knowledge of Finnish folklore Kalevala may have difficulties in understanding the complete plot.
Se, jie (2007)
Strong emotions delivered to viewer
Movies have lot of sex as people are interested about it and it gives popularity to very poor movies also. However, I have seen only few movies which actually tell a story that would not be complete without showing bold sex scenes. The "Lust, Caution" is one of these movies.
This movie is long and goes onward very slowly, but it manages to create a unforgettable atmosphere to a patient viewer. The set and actors make a good work in creating the picture of upper-class life in WWII in Hong Kong and Shanghhai and the resistance towards Japanese occupiers.
The actual story is about a student girl who becomes an agent infiltrating near to Japanese supporting officials. The plot is quite simple, but it manages still leave a lot of thinking to the viewer.
Fong juk (2006)
Tarantino in Hong Kong
My first thought after watching the movie was that I had seen a new Tarantino movie about gangster life in Hong Kong. So if you like Tarantino movies I think you will like this also, although it is not good as best Tarantino movies.
The best things in this movie are the believable characters and the sudden surprises in the plot. There is also nice humour found here and there to cheer up the viewer. The plot worked nicely but after the movie I had the feeling that the script could have been also better to make this a real classic. However, the movie is entertaining and has something in the atmosphere that Hollywood action movies do not have. Worth to watch.
Jadesoturi (2006)
Requires careful watching, but worth to do so
At first it seems that this movie is a some kind of kung-fu movie with cool CGI etc. For a Finnish film a lot of effort has been but into filming of fight scenes and CGI. The visual outcome is nice to watch, although it does not quite reach the level of massive Hollywood productions.
However, luckily this movie is not about showing cool fighting and unbelievable CGI, this movie is about telling a story of a man and his faith. The story is quite complex as it travels between two ages and two cultures. Also for non-Finnish viewers the lack of knowledge about Finnish mythology "Kalevala" might cause some extra work when trying to understand it. But this compelxity and tight coupling to mythological stories is the thing what makes this movie so captivating.
For me it took the second round of watching to finally understand the story, but I'm now more than happy that I did so because otherwise I would have missed the one of the best mystic stories in movie history.