This week's theme made it even clearer to me that I haven't seen or can find any Finnish films. The only one I can name is Rare Exports but I was a tad too scared to see it. I was hoping to find more when I went to Helsinki earlier this year but all the posters were for British or American films. On the last day I did see one poster on the bus, on a small screen, a poster for a Finnish film. I recognised the name when I was picking my films for Edinburgh but it was not meant to be as it on when I couldn't see it.
I've included some films that are Scandinavian that I've seen at festivals that I thought should be included.
Don't forget to check out what Wandering Through the Shelves picked, the blog that started Thursday Movie Picks.
Easy Money - Sweden
Swedish-American Joel Kinnaman is JW, a aspiring student at the School of Economics, a numbers guy. He falls into the wrong crowd, eager to be a part of the elite. He starts working for drug dealers, working their numbers. There is also the story of on the run Yugoslavian mafia boss Radovan Kranjic and the hitman who has been hired to kill him, Mrado Slovovic and his young daughter. All these characters collide with drastic consequences. Hate to say it, but if this was in Hollywood's hands, it would be run of the mill action, but in the hands of Jorge Daniel Espinosa, the film is an excellent and exciting thriller. Also Kinnaman is a stand out, he should go back to doing Swedish films. Unfortunately this film is heading to remake town and its starring Zac Efron #terriblecasting
Troll Hunter - Norway
Every now and then, particularly if I see something odd I'll just yell TTTRRROOOOOLLL! in a terrible Swedish accent. Filmed like a documentary and plays on the 'found footage' genre, but its better, more, exciting. Somehow I think the Norwegians have got it just right. Picking a fable like creature that is native to Scandinavia but making it universally appealing. Three students hoping to make a documentary about the strange animal attacks joins up with Hans, a Trollhunter. He has been working to keep trolls away from humans for years but trolls have been leaving their territories. It's a great film and oh my the trolls are hideously scary too.
Princess - Denmark
Proving that animation is definitely not just for children, this part 2D animated/part live action tale of revenge is dark, very dark. Thure Lindhardt lends his voice to August, a missionary who returns home to find that his sister, a former porn star died from a drug overdose leaving her 5 year old daughter behind. August adopts her and together they take revenge on those who ruined his sister's life with lots of violence and destruction. Brilliantly animated, with scenes that are so horrible but in 2D are quite beautiful. But must stress that I found this dark but because I liked the characters, I could watch this more than once.
Festival Picks
These are recent films from BFI Film Festival and Edinburgh Film Festival, Norway's The Wave and Iceland's Homecoming (English title).
