Järven tarina

Breathtaking documentary of Finnish lakes and those whose life depends on it. 'Järven tarina' takes audience to trip for place, which haven't seen camera before. No-one has filmed Finnish lakes like this before.

On the other hand, if you are interested in Finnish mythology, this is your film too. Narrators (Samuli Edelmann) voice is calming and the stories of ancient people in Finland makes documentary a bit more interesting.

Long story short: Beautiful Finnish nature, specially lakes, with amazing landscapes on a different seasons. Warning! This documentary might get you more interested in Finnish extraordinary nature. But trust me, it's worth it. Any time of the year.

The video quality of the film is excellent throughout. I'd never seen such clear underwater footage from a Finnish lake before. I found it interesting to hear the Finnish folklore tales of the lakes and their inhabitants, but I would like to have seen a little more human interaction.

On the negative side, I found the music score to be tiring in the extreme. It practically never stops, and rather than hearing the amazing occasional sounds of the vast nature one is subjected to this never-ending pompous pseudo-classical muzak. A huge missed opportunity. For me it ruined the movie and I won't be recommending it, sadly.

First of all, I think the narrator's voice is too old to be comfortably absorbed, his voice is like an old guy, voice already cracked like his diluted pupils, also a bit like a smoker's voice, harsh and with phlegm in his windpipe and throat, not a good choice to narrate this documentary.

Secondly, the script borrowed legend and myth from the Finnish hearsay to much and blah, blah and blah too long to really stimulate strong interest of the already-seen-thousand-times stuff.

But worst of all is the soundtrack, the supporting music that supposed to help interpreting the script and enhancing it more alive and vivid. Instead, the soundtrack just felt irrelevantly annoying and disturbing.

This documentary film's only achievement is telling you Finland got 190,000 lakes more than Minesoda. The cinematography is okay but not great at all. A documentary that seems to be totally unnecessary to repeat other similar purpose ones. That's why I've lost my interest after 25 patient minutes and bailed out.