Paha maa

This is based on a Tolstoi story about agony being passed from one person to another. Here it's symbolized by a false 500 euro note. There is catastrophe in one way or another for everyone who touches it.

This is well acted and you fell for the persons involved. But you never get surprised. In some ways the script is just like another one emerging from the film schools. Talented but not brilliant. You might ask why the people are doing what they're doing but you don't ask yourself about morality in a bigger meaning.

Rather entertaining, but you really could ask for more. This is far from Tolstoi.

I was very lucky to see this film as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival 2005 only a few days ago. I must admit that I am very partial to movies that focus on human relations and especially the ones which concentrate on the tragic side of life. I also love the majority of Scandinavian cinematic offerings, there is often a particular deep quality in the way the story unfolds and the characters are drawn. Character building in this film is extraordinary in its details and its depth. This is despite the fact that we do encounter quite a number of characters all with very particular personal situations and locations within their community. The audience at the end of the screening was very silent and pensive. I am still playing some of those scenes in my mind and I am still amazed at their power and meaningfulness.

This is another of those rare movies one feels grateful to be introduced to instead of the usual Hollywood tripe. It really is a roller coaster ride, as we follow the effects of a a forged 500 Euro note on a multitude of people. One asks 'what if' all the time but it certainly is a butterfly effect captured on film. It'll have you laughing, crying and biting your lip. I loved every minute of it! And thank you SBS Australia for showing films that are truly entertaining, even worth the effort to read the subtitles. The only downside to my mind is that I wont be booking a holiday to the Frozen Land - they all seem to be far too depressed - must be all that cold weather. Either way, watch it - it's worth every second.

Frozen land, frozen feelings. Desires, suffering, grief, depression.And all of this in little over two hours. Our daily routines and quirks, our pains and grievances, our passion and tragedies never stay our own. They spill, expand and enter other lives , the ones we touch upon on the streets. Strange movie , contained and violent in the same time. Full of mixed messages, and overflowing with heartaches. The school teacher gets fired, and the whole world runs amok. The characters in this movie are like the puppets in some macabre puppet theater. Someone is pulling the strings, but who is it, that is the question.As time time goes by, some recover and some just vanish into oblivion. The world is coming to an end, as one character repeated few times. And it surely seems it is...

For Estoninans Finland sometimes seems like a land of dreams. A land where many of us want to go and work there or start a business. Find love, start a new life etc. But... Aku Louhimies has made this brilliant piece which shows that everything is not so good in Finland as well. That Finland can be just as Paha maa (The Bad Land) than any other country. It shows that people there can be just as miserable in their lives than we in everywhere else. That sometimes there's nothing good. This movie nicely shows why Finland is one of the top suicidal countries. It's not easy to live in North. Cold climate changes us. I've become more and more attracted to Finnish movies and this one is very good. The acting is great as well. Jasper Pääkkönnen has become one of the top Finnish stars. Beware of the sex scene (if you have little children) and a little depression that might come afterwards the movie! 8/10