Äideistä parhain

I saw this at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival today to a sell-out crowd with a very engaging Finnish director, Klaus Härö present. This film had real heart and honesty. It can and should be appreciated both in and outside of Scandanavia.

The film highlights a significant event in Finnish history -- that during WWII, around 70,000 Finnish children were sent to Sweden among other countries to be temporarily hosted as their real parents stayed in Finland to continue in the war. The story is made accessible and immediate by taking us through the experiences of one child -- Eero (Topi Majaniemi) -- who as a 9-year old boy is dealing with language differences, a desire to return home, and a host family that can provide materially, but maybe not in the non-material ways that Eero really needs.

That the film stays true to the viewpoints and desires of the child really makes this movie work. From the opening sequences, the warring environment was clear. As the movie continued, the sense of the unknown, a certain amount of foreboding and the ever-present desire to connect with family was also subtly introduced to give a very full sense of the conflict within this child's mind. The soundtrack nicely complemented everything the movie was going for.

This is a great total package with a movie that is assured, concise and crafted from a very fine director. This film gets my recommendation. Moreover, I'm very much looking forward to seeing the next film from this decidedly capable director!

I used to think that it's silly to cry over something like a movie and that it's only girls that do so - until now. I felt like being torn apart when realizing the pain Signe felt when she realized that there was nothing in the world she could do to keep Eero.

It was beautiful to see the development of the bond between Signe and Eero, and it made the outcome so hard to bear. It was easy to understand how deep wounds were left in the souls of the Finnish children that were sent to "safety" in Sweden during WWII.

This is a film everybody should see. It shows a depth I have NEVER seen on the movie screen.

Thank you Klaus Haro!

I liked this movie for several reasons: 1. It differs from other similarly-themed movies by focusing on the one "war child" (Eero) and his relationship with the two mothers in his life. That was fresh for me.

2. Great cinematography! Many beautiful shots of the Swedish countryside and other nicely-framed shots. One that impressed me was the shot of Eero sitting inside the concrete bunker with the sea and sky in the window next to his head. This movie is worth it just for the camera work.

3. Great acting by all of the actors.

4. Excellent story/plot that kept moving at a good pace.

The one negative comment I would make is regarding Eero's young female peer. She tries to be his friend, but he ignores her and their friendship is never developed, so I wondered what was the use of her character, since she had such a minor role. Maybe it ended up on the cutting room floor?

All in all, I highly recommend this movie.

Haven't been so totally blown away by a movie for quite a while - it's rare in Hong Kong that all the 5 audience in the cinema all ended up soaking in tears - if that didn't tell you enough about the movie..

There were movies, like the Dutch movie Simon, that tried to capture the subtle dynamics among fathers and sons, or the Canadian one, Barbarian Invasion. This movie, however, has yet overrode those movies by its subtle but yet delicately constructed interplay among father, mother and the son. More so it touched so much upon young man's hope and tie with the mother. Just when you think that was the whole thing about the movie (i.e. mother and son, anti-war wake-up call), the movie got brilliantly galvanized by the two women in how they dealt with themselves and the motherhood, and what they wanted, adding a potent twist to the narrative as well as gently tweaking the emotions of the audience.

For such a long time there was no movies that was able to employ such a basic and simple setting but yet so able to capture the multi-faceted humanities in such an embedded, compiling way.

Highly recommend this movie.

This film is about a Finnish boy who got sent to Sweden during the Finish-Russian War in 1939.

The film is very powerful, touching and affecting. There are so many memorable scenes where nothing is said, and yet they convey a thousand words. An example is that Eero's mother seeing a priest coming to their house. The despair and hopelessness is portrayed so vividly, and yet not one word is said. Maria Lundqvist deserves particular recognition for her acting skills. She plays every emotion very naturally. From the initial rejection and disgust to the eventual love and trust, these emotions are all so natural and real. Another point that deserves mention is that the present days are in black and white while the past is in colour. Such an arrangement is not so usual, and yet suits this film well. The soundtrack is very good, it really captivates and enhances the mood and emotions of the scenes.

The plot is particularly touching, especially when one is reminded of the fact that 80,000 children had a similar fate during the war. I am glad to have a chance to watch this film, and I urge others to watch this too!