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maiuin#HIFF films I've seen so far (6/?):
She Loved Blossoms More by Yannis Veslemes
Three brothers try to bring back their deceased mother with an experimental multi-dimentional machine.
I thought the initial idea was good, but too bad the film just wasn't. It was 86 minutes long, which is pretty much the perfect length for any film, but I was so bored! It looked awesome with a lot of retro computers etc. in the brothers' lab and there were some really cool practical effects in the film, though.
There was a lot of drinking and drugs to make it feel wild and psychedelic, I guess, but it just felt like an old, boring trick and didn't work. The female character was also written in a very old-fashioned way: she was there only to be screwed by two of the brothers (both the sex scenes and the fact that two of the three brothers had a thing with her were completely irrelevant to the story) and as an object of their experiments.
I think this could have been a cool enough short film with maybe one of the brothers, the chicken and the machine. But I don't recommend watching this.
#HIFF films I've seen so far (5/?):
Adoption by Márta Mészáros
A woman in her 40s wants a child and befriends a teenage girl seeking her help. Their lives become entangled and their friendship opens up new horizons.
This Hungarian film from 1975 is part of the Trailblazers theme at the festival. A very powerful depiction of what it's like to be a woman in a patriarchal society. Beautifully shot with a lot of close-ups.
I had a hard time with the characters' bond, though, because my need for personal space is larger than average, and they were very close. But that's not a flaw of the film.
Jason Robinson 🐍 🍻 🚴Fourth day of Love and Anarchy, Helsinki International Film Festival \o/
Also my last day, but I guess 12 films in four days is a pretty good achievement. A lot of good movies, as always, though I feel this year my selection was even better than usual, or maybe the festival selection was more to my taste.
Todays four films:
Two prosecutors (2025)
1937: When a prisoner's letter escapes destruction, idealistic prosecutor Kornev uncovers NKVD corruption. His pursuit of justice in Stalin's USSR becomes a dangerous journey into the heart of a system devouring its own.
Grim look at the terror of the Soviet regime, towards its own people. Somewhat slow at times. Lots of unlocking doors of prison corridors. Not boring at all however, very well built atmosphere.
The name of the film confuses me a bit though.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35521200/
Heads or tails? (2025)
After a deadly rodeo and a stolen kiss, Rosa and her cowboy lover flee across the Italian wilderness, pursued by Buffalo Bill and the story he refuses to rewrite.
This has to be the weirdest western I've ever seen. I felt a strong plot kind of missing at times, but it was still a great watch. Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Alessandro Borghi make a beautiful pair.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32448429/
Untamable (2025)
When a police officer is murdered in Cameroon's capital, Commissioner Billong's search for justice exposes deep rifts between tradition and change, duty and survival.
The IMDd recap is weird. What I saw was a story of a person with massive personal issues, clearly according to the story happening before the police officer murder. A person struggling to cope with being a father and ending up alienating his family with abusive behaviour, while also taking out his frustration on random petty criminals. The whole chase of the cop killers seemed kind of secondary in the whole film.
Well produced, enjoyed it even though the topic was not an easy one.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36580117/
Once upon a time in Gaza (2025)
As Hamas tightens control over Gaza, Yahia seeks vengeance for his friend Ossama's brutal murder. His encounter with the killer alters everything.
This was an interesting one. I was expecting some kind of action shootup, but there was very little violence. A typical drama of good natured petty drug merchants (can that actually be a thing?), who run into problems with the establishment. What makes this untypical is that it was situated in Gaza, and that through the whole film we have a background of Israel occupation and strikes. Never as the main thing, but always present. As it is in the life of the people in Gaza. Or what is left of it right now.
Bonus points for the scene where a film is being made, Israel soldiers acted by Palestinian militants are instructed to take props with them into a scene, and they carry in a Hanukkah, a flag, and a ... large painting of Theodor Herzl 😁
#HIFF films I've seen so far (1/?):
Magic Farm by Amalia Ulman
Documentary crew travel to Argentina to make a docco about a musician, but end up in the wrong place and try to fix the mistake by making up a weird trend with locals.
The director has a background in video and performance art and the best thing about this film was the aesthetics: the styles of the characters, the locations and the camera work with some gopro stuff etc.! Chloë Sevigny was good with the little she had, but tbh I had a hard time remembering what the film tried to be about after only three days. The cinematography got me in a film fest mood, tho, so there's at least that!
Third of Love and Anarchy, Helsinki International Film Festival \o/
Rumours (2024)
The leaders of seven wealthy democracies get lost in the woods while drafting a statement on a global crisis, facing danger as they attempt to find their way out.
Satirical look at a G7 event hosted in Germany, with the sentimental top leaders of the world trying to work with their own personal issues while drafting a statement on a global crisis, while a zombie apocalypse happens around them. We're left very little in detail on what happens to the world, and there are some really silly inconsistencies, but hey it's a satire focusing on the leaders themselves and how they think they're somehow so much more special than anyone else (except for the American president who sudddenly at some point seems to get things).
This was so funny, I don't really get the poor IMDb score. The audience, including me, was laughing their heads off.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30841606/
The Old Woman with the Knife (2025)
An aging assassin with a knack for taking out society's worst encounters a young protégé eager to learn the trade. As they form an unlikely bond, the veteran killer discovers fresh purpose in her twilight years of violence and routine.
This was really interesting. Somewhat ultra-violent, but with the interesting twist of an elderly person as the main character. One that was still extremely badass, of course, wouldn't get an action flick out of things otherwise. A touching story to soften all the spilling of blood. Well made, didn't get bored.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34509472/
Safe house (2025)
On Christmas Eve during the civil war in the Central African Republic in 2013, a Norwegian aid worker in a field hospital strives to protect a Muslim man from a Christian militia, without endangering her colleagues' safety.
Action packed and dramatic, well casted and without moments that felt boring. A really interesting, emotional, and sad story, which is also based on a true story, of the drama that unfolded during 15 intense hours at Doctors Without Borders' field hospital in Bangui on Christmas Eve, 2013.
There are not words that one can give for the respect of aid workers operating in warzones.
Antti KirjavainenSeuraavaksi ohjelmassa Lesbian Space Princess R&Assa Maximissa
Second day of Love and Anarchy, Helsinki International Film Festival \o/
Fuck Israel 🖕
And the films were:
Put your soul in your hand and walk (2025)
A filmmaker connects with a Palestinian woman in Gaza who documents life under bombardment. Their 200+ days of digital exchanges, the meaning shifts after Fatem's death in an Israeli attack on 16/ April 2025.
Truly heartbreaking. Each call to Fatima we visit a young woman full of hope even though her culture and country is being destroyed to the ground. In a genocide operated by the people of Israel, with the aim of destroying everything that is Palestine. Drones whirr above, missiles explode and Apache helicopters shell the population of Gaza while Fatima keeps her outside connection to documentarist Sepideh Farsi, over video calls.
One day Fatima receives news that the documentary Sepideh is making is going to be featured in Cannes. She, and her whole family, is killed some days later by the forces of Israel.
So yeah, Fuck Israel.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36598711/
She loved blossoms more (2024)
Three brothers build an unusual time-machine in order to bring their long-dead mother back to life.
Weird and trippy (visually and the characters being constantly on drugs) scifi/horror film. Definitely wasn't sleeping during this one. I liked it though I'm not sure I really understood what happened in the end, I guess it was up to interpretation.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26932649/
National competition: Oh Humanity
Not a film as such, but a collection of short films in the Love and Anarchy festival short film competition. From the short films "Underdog" was my clear favourite. A really well written and composed film about the breeding of dogs, making direct comparisons to the breeding of human beings during the Nazi regime. Hard hitting animal rights stuff, I completely and fully approve and love. My faith in humanity went down (if possible) by many notches today, and I'm not even sure which caused it to go down more, the killing of Fatima or the way breeding of dogs and other animals was portrayed.
"Vauhtipyrähdys" was a joyful flick of the joys of cycling. Loved it.
"Miss Paradise Beach" was weird? Didn't quite get the point of it.
"Vieraslaji" was another powerful very short one. We humans are the most dangerous invasive species on this planet, was the clear message.
"My name is hope" was a brutal look at the life of political prisoners, very much filmed as fiction, but very much the reality of lots of people around the world.
