100 Litres of Gold

Not a very good, not a very funny movie. Good actors, but the script doesn't live up to them. The biggest minus still goes to the sound department. Sometimes you couldn't really understand what the actors were saying. That's why I had to watch the movie with Finnish subtitles. The biggest selling point of the movie is the big-name actors.

One of the worst Finnish films ever. Good actors but the direction and script are lousy.

I could explain the whole idea of the film in a minute, but I don't feel like spoiling it. Unfortunately, the level and quality of the film is explained by the budgets of Finnish films. At the moment, films and series have to be shot almost with a home camera and there is no room for fancy things.

When you compare it to Sweden, for example, the situation there is significantly better and that is why Swedish productions also sell internationally. But nothing good is expected from Finland for a few or even many years.

Teemu Nikki's 100 Litres of Beer is a darkly comic, slow-burning tale steeped in the traditions of Finnish countryside life - but told with the tension and atmosphere of a Nordic western. At its heart are two estranged sisters, drawn together by a dying father, a sacred family recipe for sahti, and a past soaked in resentment and guilt.

What begins as an awkward reunion gradually unfolds into a showdown of buried emotions, twisted loyalties, and bittersweet redemption. Nikki trades in horses for station wagons and saloons for wooden farmhouses, but the spirit is pure frontier: harsh landscapes, taciturn characters, and a simmering sense of moral reckoning. With its offbeat tone and soulful undercurrent, 100 Litres of Beer proves that even the far north can serve up a fine western - cold, cloudy, and with a strong kick.

The Rehoboth International Film Festival is being held this week. I perused the schedule. Hmmm.... A Finnish language film about two bruising brewing sisters who work their butts off to produce 100 liters of sahti (a liquor that has been around for a millennium) for their sister's wedding? How could I resist? Then after weeks to achieve perfection in their product, they wake up several mornings later to realize they have consumed every bit of it. (This is all in the trailer, so I'm not committing a spoiler) It's two days before the wedding and a very amusing, sometimes LOL, sometimes touching, sometimes shocking, effort ensues to replace the gold. I haven't had a drink in thirty years, but after hearing the word "sahti" over a hundred times, I might have a hankerin' for it.

A movie that doesn't have a good dialogue and has a very poor script that even good actors can't fix is called "100 litraa sahtia". On top of that the only joke of the film is the people being alcoholic rednecks in a small remote village. Mainly the film is idling too much and not much is happening.

However the actors do a very good job with the material they're given. They can't fix what is not there, a script, a story and so on. Very boring comedy.

These are matters of opinion that everyone has. Some may have very low expectations for Finnish movies in general and they will never disappoint from that point of view.