Caasha

Nobody outside Finland probably has the opportunity to see this film. That is nice. Sometimes, when there is no story to tell, one should stick to making a documentary on the subject of public interest. In this case, somebody obviously thought that even a lame story is better than just the facts.

The question of the Muslim community of Somalian origins in Finland is somewhat open. The Somali people have, of all the immigrants groups in Finland, most trouble finding their place in the society, with a high unemployment rate and a tendency to be separated from the majority, including other Muslim groups.

The movie introduces a young Somali woman, Caasha, trying to live her own life despite of the demands of the family. The story focuses on one of the most difficult subjects: meeting non-Muslim (Finnish) men. However, the perspective is really the one of the Finnish man. Karri is a security guard trying very hard to prove himself he is not prejudiced, nor racist. The character of Karri is the most interesting thing in the movie. He has trouble admitting himself having prejudices like we all do. He also seems to get pleasure from his attempts to show he is no ordinary man; a Muslim woman is a challenge for him, and maybe this is the reason why the character of Caasha is so annoyingly idealized. One could say she really has no character.

The Somalian community also seems strangely liberal. I wouldn't say there are no families like this, but this movie really has no guts to touch the real hot spots. Both the racism of the Finns and the strict social code of the Somalians are shown in an unrealistically positive light. There is more than just prejudices to Finnish racism, and there is more than traditional habits to the control of women in the Muslim community.

Therefore, the movie is one of those propaganda "Love thy neighbor" -like attempts to show that all people are nice and all you need is love and a few white lies. Quite pathetic indeed, and even worse, the actors really show their amateur-like nature, although the Somalians do just fine considering the circumstances. Poor Arttu Kapulainen is given some disgracefully dull lines, but he doesn't seem to have a clue anyway.

The movie just lacks creativity, political courage and a story. Then again, it is good to see someone is trying to work on this subject, and there is nothing really annoying in the movie - it is just unimportant.