I've wanted to see this for the longest time, since I first saw the DVD case in a renting shop, back in 2008 or 2009 I think. That's some 12 years, during which I infrequently recalled the desire, but there was always something else going on and it never happened.
Until now.
I have to say, it was very different than I had envisioned. I can't recall why I thought it to be different, maybe there was some ad somewhere, or a trailer, that painted a slightly misleading image and it distorted further as time went on and my memory got warped along the way.
Be it as it may, I have to admit I enjoyed it during the entire length, until the very finale, which I found a bit anti-climactic. But I won't go into spoiler territory -- see for yourself.
The landscapes, the setting; all the props and the costumes, they were all superb. We rarely see this part of the world in a historic piece that goes further back than the early 1900's. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about the setting. Granted, it is bleak and tormenting, but in its own way it's very fresh and unique. That may not be the case (a bunch of equally bleak settings come to mind from elsewhere), but something about it feels out of ordinary. In a good way, that is.
The acting was generally good. As usual, Virtanen delivered in spades and it was truly a treat to watch the character. It felt real, it felt authentic, it was great.
The brother, on the other hand, Knut... Most of the time it was almost on par with Virtanen's delivery, but then at some other times it... just wasn't. At times his character broke the illusion for me, the charade where I'm convinced this is a real thing I'm witnessing, and suddenly I was very aware I'm in this reality and just watching a movie. I think it was the accent, the way he delivered certain lines. The acting itself was convincing enough, so I think people who don't understand Finnish probably never felt this disconnection. But it wasn't that bad, just a minor thing that bothered me.
Now, the story itself and the pacing of it, it was all great. I don't mind my movies slow and taking their time to tell the perfect version of its story. There were no moments I felt particularly bored or unfocused.
The atmosphere was seriously tormenting, especially after the middle point of the film. It wasn't as much a horror movie, as it was a... tormenting movie?
It's definitely not your mainstream type of "cheap" horror, and it's not gore-y or shocking either. It employs a few tricks common to horror flicks, but it's not the kind of horror you'd hear your buddy randomly talk about. I think many people would probably feel a little annoyed after this one, if they had thought it to be the "ordinary", blockbuster-y type of horror.
But let's talk about the ending. Without spoiling anything.
When the finale hit, I was starting to worry there'd be no satisfying resolutions. Suddenly the pace cranked up to 11 and it felt weirdly vague about everything. And then, those worries came to life as the credits started rolling in the screen. Abruptly, I felt.
It still bugs me that a lot of very central questions just don't have an answer. I get the idea of bathing the whole thing in symbolism and then leaving plenty of room for the viewer to ponder on the themes and the questions.
But it felt like some very simple things, that probably shouldn't be left to the viewer to guess at, were left open. Things that would entirely change the tone of the story in that one single moment when it'd be revealed.
When we started approaching the finale, I realized I had had all these theories of what was going on, what had happened. I was, without noticing, building all these overly complex explanations for certain things that I won't spoil, or twists in the very setting of the story, but the movie left it all open in a way that makes all of them equally unlikely as the most simplest, literal take on the whole thing.
All the possible explanations, twists, they were all left with a sense of unlikeliness, so there's not much to ponder about.
Maybe I'm a simple person and just don't possess the cognitive capabilities to understand the story. Or maybe it's intended to be taken literally, in which case it feels even worse.
But other than the ending, the movie was great. If the ending had been a bit more fleshed out, or more likely, better explained to simpletons like me, this could've been an easy 8.5 or a 9 from me.
But it's well worth a watch, if you like a slow-paced, tormenting experience.
Until now.
I have to say, it was very different than I had envisioned. I can't recall why I thought it to be different, maybe there was some ad somewhere, or a trailer, that painted a slightly misleading image and it distorted further as time went on and my memory got warped along the way.
Be it as it may, I have to admit I enjoyed it during the entire length, until the very finale, which I found a bit anti-climactic. But I won't go into spoiler territory -- see for yourself.
The landscapes, the setting; all the props and the costumes, they were all superb. We rarely see this part of the world in a historic piece that goes further back than the early 1900's. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about the setting. Granted, it is bleak and tormenting, but in its own way it's very fresh and unique. That may not be the case (a bunch of equally bleak settings come to mind from elsewhere), but something about it feels out of ordinary. In a good way, that is.
The acting was generally good. As usual, Virtanen delivered in spades and it was truly a treat to watch the character. It felt real, it felt authentic, it was great.
The brother, on the other hand, Knut... Most of the time it was almost on par with Virtanen's delivery, but then at some other times it... just wasn't. At times his character broke the illusion for me, the charade where I'm convinced this is a real thing I'm witnessing, and suddenly I was very aware I'm in this reality and just watching a movie. I think it was the accent, the way he delivered certain lines. The acting itself was convincing enough, so I think people who don't understand Finnish probably never felt this disconnection. But it wasn't that bad, just a minor thing that bothered me.
Now, the story itself and the pacing of it, it was all great. I don't mind my movies slow and taking their time to tell the perfect version of its story. There were no moments I felt particularly bored or unfocused.
The atmosphere was seriously tormenting, especially after the middle point of the film. It wasn't as much a horror movie, as it was a... tormenting movie?
It's definitely not your mainstream type of "cheap" horror, and it's not gore-y or shocking either. It employs a few tricks common to horror flicks, but it's not the kind of horror you'd hear your buddy randomly talk about. I think many people would probably feel a little annoyed after this one, if they had thought it to be the "ordinary", blockbuster-y type of horror.
But let's talk about the ending. Without spoiling anything.
When the finale hit, I was starting to worry there'd be no satisfying resolutions. Suddenly the pace cranked up to 11 and it felt weirdly vague about everything. And then, those worries came to life as the credits started rolling in the screen. Abruptly, I felt.
It still bugs me that a lot of very central questions just don't have an answer. I get the idea of bathing the whole thing in symbolism and then leaving plenty of room for the viewer to ponder on the themes and the questions.
But it felt like some very simple things, that probably shouldn't be left to the viewer to guess at, were left open. Things that would entirely change the tone of the story in that one single moment when it'd be revealed.
When we started approaching the finale, I realized I had had all these theories of what was going on, what had happened. I was, without noticing, building all these overly complex explanations for certain things that I won't spoil, or twists in the very setting of the story, but the movie left it all open in a way that makes all of them equally unlikely as the most simplest, literal take on the whole thing.
All the possible explanations, twists, they were all left with a sense of unlikeliness, so there's not much to ponder about.
Maybe I'm a simple person and just don't possess the cognitive capabilities to understand the story. Or maybe it's intended to be taken literally, in which case it feels even worse.
But other than the ending, the movie was great. If the ending had been a bit more fleshed out, or more likely, better explained to simpletons like me, this could've been an easy 8.5 or a 9 from me.
But it's well worth a watch, if you like a slow-paced, tormenting experience.