Vuosaari

For me, too fragmented a rambling narrative, dialogue taken out of context so it doesn't capture, characters mostly unsympathetic, in other words: boring.

This powerful film is set a multi-cultural district of Finland that is home to many nationalities. This film follows several parallel stories one grey and cold winter week in a quest to find love and acceptance. In a world where societies expectations are high, and the pressures of every day life create a shroud of secrecy.

Naked Harbour has managed to bring out small glimpses of warmth and humanity. Moments that arouse those feelings of hope allowing the characters to connect with the audience. The vision of the director Aku Louhimies's, was for the viewers experience to be significant and therapeutic, leaving the viewer fragile in a unifying and healing way.

Viewing experience was so significant and unprecedented, that after the movie, I wanted to go to hug my loved ones, and that feeling was stronger than in a long time. I recommend this movie to everyone, who wants to feel.

Just saw this at the Los Angeles Scandinavian Film Festival.

Wonderful movie that follows the stories of several very different people who are only connected by the fact that they live in the same part of town and are all struggling through a difficult time in their lives. This film examines some very intense and dark times in these people's lives, that will probably change them forever, but also shows real warmth and humanity. The characters are all very relatable in the sense that they're all experiencing the types of struggles that people deal with every day. It's a very real examination of what it's like for people to go through life and how each struggle is relative to a person's personal experience.

Watch it.

A powerful and well balanced film in any aspect; excellent acting, great directing, script and photo. See it, you won't be disappointed! From the very beginning it strikes a chord that hold you and gets deeper into your heart shot by shot. "We want to feel, we want to be touched...." The first lines epitomize the theme in this great film and connects to these epic lines by the Swedish writer Hjalmar Söderberg (Doctor Glass):

"We want to be loved, failing that, admired; failing that, feared; failing that, hated and scorned.

We want to instill some sort of feeling. Spirit shudder void and want contact at any price."

Lots of Helsinki people having it rough it seems, particularly in that eastern suburbs region (very very far from the actual city) called 'Vuosaari'. Sex, violence, exploitation, drug abuse and so on and again and again and once more for the road (out of the theater that is, preferably asap).

So why our great film auteurs such as Louhimies always make these "real"-life dramas and very little else? The answer is simple: they require almost no talent or skill (especially scriptwise) whatsoever. None. And the actors are only allowed to show any emotions while they are intoxicated or otherwise crazy; once again no talent needed because whatever action is possible. The story of the whole Finnish film industry.