Rakkaus on aarre

This 53 minute short can be seen as part of a hard to find collection called 'Eija-Liisa Ahtila - The Cinematic Works', which covers the shorts made from 1993 to 2005.

The pieces are all interesting, dense, and slightly surreal. Some were originally made as museum installation pieces. 'Love Is A Treasure' is the longest of the set, and explores madness in 4 women in a way that's simultaneously visceral (we actually see their hallucinations) and yet somehow intentionally distanced and 'undramatic' as well. It's about as un-Hollywood an approach to madness as one could get.

On a personal reaction level, I did find myself bored at moments, and never quite blown away, but I was also often intrigued, and struck by the power of some of the imagery. One to re-visit. I have a feeling there are more meanings and levels to be gotten on repeated viewings.