Heart of a Lion

I had honestly given up hope of ever seeing a truly good Finnish film. Finnish filmmakers seemed to have this peculiar depressive streak a mile wide and every film I watched was either painfully banal comedy or a dark drama about the cruelty of life. And then I saw this film.

Leijonasydän by Dome Karukoski is the best Finnish film I've personally ever seen. It has the capacity of emotion, the sheer skill and the story to stand side by side with the best international films out there. And the reasons for this excellence are the reasons why most films succeed: excellent characters and a great story. And it's not that the story itself is all that unpredictable or new. The film is about a Neo-Nazi that is forced to live with his new girlfriend's son. A son, whose father just happens to be of African descent. You can probably figure out how the story will pan out just from that. It's the execution here, the way the story is told and how well the actors do their jobs, that pulls the movie through.

And those aforementioned actors are all very skilled. Peter Franzén and Jasper Pääkkönen both do a credible job of portraying two brothers, who both happen to believe in white power. Yet they're not treated unsympathetically. Their actions are condemned, sure, but the film also goes to great lengths to show them not as monster, but as people who believe in wrong things. They both show capability for regret, sympathy and even love, despite their upbringing. Great depth of emotion and humanity.

Laura Birn and Yusufa Sidibeh also shine as mother and son. Finland still doesn't get all that many immigrants, so people of foreign descent are still something of an oddity here. Thus it's great to see films like this one that treat the fact like it's supposed to be: a family, no matter their respective skin colour.

As far criticism goes, I only have a couple of nitpicks. Like how the ending could have gone on for a bit longer, or how Birn's character gets suddenly removed for a part of the film, but these are more matters of taste rather than real flaws in the film.

Leijonasydän is a great film. It believes in humanity, has incredible role performances and is just all around heartwarming to watch. Highly recommended for all.

I find this movie very enjoyable. Character interactions, emotions, scenes, dialogues and so on. The only problem with it is that it doesn't belong in this world. There are no people like this. I've spent most my childhood surrounded by right wing skins (many of them still my best friends). Then I've spent nearly 10 years being an immigrant and surrounded by people of very mixed origins. Again I repeat - people are not like that. What this movie does is it perpetuates harmful stereotypes and prejudice on both sides in the name of universal love and leftie brainwash. Use with caution.

The director is very talented but should rely more on his own life experience when telling stories rather than doing his liberal homework to get praise from his Starbucks friends. I think it would take him to another level.

OK. I must admit: I have not seen to many Finnish movies. But the few that I have seen has been either really boring or, if it is a comedy, really boring.

But this one. WOW! Nothing short of stunning, with great performances all over. Not just from Peter Franzén but also from the rest of the crew, the Nazi fellows not the least. Jasper Pääkkönen (try saying that name really fast ten times) playing the brother in the film is equally good.

The movie has a message. But it is not made "down your throat". Just as the Nazis in the movie are acting stupid, so is the black father and the gypsies. So lots of people with different colored skin and different backgrounds, acting stupid. Not just one part. As often in the real world.

Makes me wonder if there are more good Finnish movies. At least this one gives me a certain hope that there might be. Or at least some to come.

Can love save us from an extremist ideology? That's the question addressed by "Heart of A Lion", four times nominated to the Jussi Awards (the Finnish equivalent of the BAFTA) in 2014. In addition to the actors' amazing performances (Peter Franzén is superb), the movie sensitively shows the trouble in having a normal life when we want to be an active representative to an ideology like nazism. Despite some tough moments and Dome Karukoski's accuracy to show how this extremely violent environment is, there is room for light in this Finnish movie. Little by little, Teppo finds his humanity and humbly realizes the limits of far-right ideologies that are indeed quite popular in Northern countries. Even though Finland is going to celebrate the first century of its independence, immigration is still rare and attachment to the roots and the national history are essential. Although the director says that "Heart of a Lion" could have been set anywhere, the story is the more legitimate and realist in Finland. This film sends us a beautiful moral: complicity, wiseness and reason can win against ignorance, exclusion and violence that, as shown by the movie, are synonyms of decay and degeneration instead of progress and growth. Full review on our blog Los Indiscretos : https://losindiscretos.org

I instantly got the feeling to compare it American History X, as Heart of a Lion was presented with a similar premise. Heart of a Lion, however, focuses a lot more on the relationship between the two characters, rather than (mostly) one character having an existential crisis.

The beginging was a bit odd and boring. The relationship with the main character and his future girlfriend felt very awkward and unrelatable. I just kept thinking why on Earth would she want to be with him, and the chemistry felt forced. The chemistries and relationships between the main character and the kid and the brother were a lot better, great even. Those and the acting was really what carried the movie. Otherwise it could have been better.

The neo-Nazi group as well as the plot in general and its events were all very unconvincing and unbelievable, as in unrealistic and over-the-top. Seven guys coming to beat one guy up just because their kid's shirt was stolen at school? Things like that really broke the immersion. All the other characters aside from the three main characters felt over-exaggerated caricatures and stereotypes.

Despite its flaws, the movie still managed to be emotional and after the first twenty minutes the pacing and directing were good. Acting was great and overall the movie was okay.