Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Lahja (1997) / [A Gift]

FI 1997. PC: Yleisradio / TV 1 / Draama. P: Kari Kyrönseppä. D: Matti Ijäs. SC: Heikki Vuento, Auli Mantila, Matti Ijäs. DP: Pauli Sipiläinen. Colour definition: Marko Terävä. AD: Paula Salonen, Minna Pajuoja. Cost: Outi Harjupatana. Makeup: Zoe Burtsow. FX: Esko Kares. S rec: Pekka Pylkkö. S design and mixing: A.-P. Heikkinen. ED: Pipsa Valavaara. Ass. D: Auli Mantila. Production manager: Ulla Löppönen. Script supervisor: Mari Karonen. C: Kaija Pakarinen (Leila), Antti Litja (Kuitunen), Turo Rannema (Jasso), Pirkka-Pekka Petelius (Jouni), Kristiina Elstelä (Hannele), Aake Kalliala (Matinlassi), Risto Salmi (Naamanka), Jari Pehkonen (Törmänen), Jouko Puolanto (Innanen), Esko Pesonen (Hokkanen), Sulevi Peltola (Pylvänäinen), Mintra Surapha (Pike), Sinna Virtanen (Kuitunen's daughter), Kari Sorvali (escort for Leila), Markku Toikka (escort for Leila), Jukka Rasila (bus driver), Sökö Kaukoranta (waiter), Petri Aalto, Henna Hakkarainen, Kalevi Heinämaa, Heikki Häkkinen, Daniel Katz, Martti Kaukanen, Kikka Nurminen, Olli Pellikka, Jorma Selin, Eero Soininen. 77 min. Telecasts: 13.10 1997, 31.8.1998, 3.7.2000 Yle TV1. Vhs: Yleisradio / Tallennepalvelu (1998), PAN Vision Publishing Oy. VET I-08505. Digibeta from Yle Export viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki (Matti Ijäs), 20 Feb 2013.

Leila has had enough of baby fever and failed attempts with her husband. She gets on the road to get pregnant. The movie is a merciless and humoristic survey on Finnish men, married and single. In the countryside the situation can be desperate. Because of the shortage (or absence) of women men are losing their touch in dealing with them. Women have to be imported from distant countries like in the Buddhist encounter towards the end of the movie.

Lahja is a performance-driven film. The ensemble of actors is great, with many of Finland's best performers, and the dialogue is rich, sharp and witty, full of humoristic observations that might be difficult or impossible to translate.

This television film which has been probably shot on film was now viewed on digibeta. It looks serviceable for a cinema screening, with atmospheric views of autumn colours and foggy fields.

Matti Ijäs is at his best in Lahja. Internationally, Lahja might be compared with certain films of Jiří Menzel: there is a similar blend of wit, humour, observation in human failure, and vitality.

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