The eponymous hero of this film is a graphic designer and cartoonist from Finland who became famous in a cult way for his erotic and pornographic drawings of men
and ended up being a champion for bears and leather supporters in the US.
Dome Karukoski’s movie is actually a fairly sober biopic which takes us from the war in Finland
through the bleak 1950’s and an unsuccessful trip to Berlin to try to sell his work, to Touko’s (Tom’s real name) struggle to find pleasure in his day job and to keep his secret in conservative Helsinki, to success which emanates from the sale of his material via the Hollywood magazine industry.
Now, his work hangs in galleries the world over and remains a force 30 years after his death.
The most interesting thing about this film is the story which is quite a tribute to a dogged perseverance and a sense that he was doing what he was meant to do, however much society tried to censor him. It is the Americans
who make him realise the value he has to so many people.
The actual film is a rather wooden and predictable undertaking. Best is the recreation of the period and the muted photography and music (Hildur Gudnadottir in part responsible here). Acting by Pekka Strang
in the lead, Jessica Grabowsky as his sister
and Lauri Tilkanen as his lover
is solid but overall there is nothing that leaps out of the movie and grabs you. A rather sedate Scandinavian style for a man whose drawings were anything but.
♦♦+
So, decisions were made and perhaps those by John Crowley in direction and Peter Straughan, the screenplay writer were not always the best. The event which triggers the story, a bomb at the Metopolitan Museum of Art is only filtered slowly back to us via flashback,
when it is really the key to the whole story, especially the whereabouts of the painting which gives the film its title.
It is later with a jump forward in time and with Theo back in NY that the mystery/thriller side of the movie lifts off and is rather hastily developed.
So, there is something lopsided in the telling and the relationship dynamics don’t always get so clearly revealed either,
as young Theo is really very good, Ansel Elgort more than acceptable as the adult version and some good cameos by Jeffrey Wright
and Nicole Kidman.
Luke Wilson
as his father and Sarah Paulson
have less satisfying parts and the two actors playing Boris don’t match up very well.
and issues the movie raises that are interesting but the whole film does not hang together as well as perhaps it should have.
here of a fantastic kind, seemingly normal but peopled by weird staff and possibly live mannequins),
rigid work rules and awkward dating services. We meet Sheila (Marianne Jean-Baptiste)
who is seeking to hook up after breaking up with her husband and who wants a nice new dress for her date. She chooses a red one at D and S, or rather the dress chooses her and then she discovers that it has a life of its own and can cause mayhem.
The second half of the film considers Reg (Leo Bill) 
and Babs (Hayley Squires), a young couple about to be married who later acquire the same dress and have similar experiences.
Apart from that we see the shop at night and the strange behaviour of the main shop assistant
who removes her wig every evening and descends into a type of hell via a dumb waiter.
and need editing but it is definitely unusual and keeps you wondering where it will take you, with a few scares on the way.
Is it really so clever and insightful or is it a cop-out which throws up all sorts of possible messages without really clearly standing for anything? I certainly felt there was ambiguity and contradictions and that is for someone who is not steeped in the Batman/Joker history.
and the references to Taxi Driver and King of Comedy. But the splicing of this portrayal of a society misfit with mental issues together with serious discontent among the poorer classes is not always the happiest fit.
On top of that we have the abrupt instances of violence, which take us into the realm of serial killers, even if in this case most seem unpremeditated. The final layer to consider is how much of what happens is real or a figment of Arthur’s sick mind.
There are some impactful scenes in this second half but still the question rises: is this real or effect?
and he is not always backed up by the most helpful writing.
because they may turn against society? Who knows really? I’m not sure I’d want to see the film again but I do think it offers itself for good discussions.
and rent a fourth room out to the handsome Lucas
who they all fall in love with. Three months later he has been murdered and when the police detective comes to interrogate them, they all seem to have motives, as does the maid.
What is more, Lucas was the detective’s boyfriend and seemed to have something going with her number two. Jordi Molla stars among others in this watchable if slightly overlong comedy.
It was also a play and perhaps works better on stage. Nonetheless it raises a chuckle here and there!
a school principal, who used to be married to the wet John and had two sons, one now at university and the other ending high school and mucking around. Later she got together with Kate and ended up with a daughter, after Kate was killed in an accident. This is Flora. Alan’s daughter is Gillian (Nicola Walker) who struggles to make it as a farmer above the Yorkshire town of Halifax.
Her first husband abused her and committed suicide, then she married his brother (Robbie) who was a cop and things are now in trouble between them partly due to her past. Gillian has the one son Raff, now married to Em
and with a daughter Calamity. They live on the farm with Gillian and Flora and Calamity are best friends. John meanwhile has hooked up with alcoholic youth novelist Judith who has turned into a hit writer and is rolling in money. John now lives in a plush house
and Alan and Cecilia are moving up too.
but with no real plan.
and the natural dialogues that weave all this together. We get to see the characters warts and all but they are sympathetic and fallible human beings most trying to get on in live with varying degrees of success. Celia is an arch snob at times, Alan can be too sentimental but they balance each other out.
Caroline seems in-control but has plenty of wobbles inside, whereas Gillian seems always to be struggling
but has a resilience and down-to-earth humour that keeps her going. The way the relationships have changed over the years and the way the children have grown
give Halifax that special quality of making the viewer feel like part of the families too and like long-term neighbours. Lancashire and Walker
are particularly able actresses at the top of their craft.
and a sex-worker he picks up and starts to fall for. This latter is Waseem, a Syrian refugee,
who is making some money this way until he gets a work permit. He comes from a homophobic society and is clearly uncomfortable with what he is doing not to mention being bullied at the refugee centre. And he resists Lars’ overtures towards a closer relationship. Lars also tries to shift him out of his comfort zone.
Interesting all round with superb photography by Malte Hafner and direction by Kal Kreusner. Renato Schuch as Waseem
and Nikolaus Benda as Lars
make a very credible pair of leads.
is the weather presenter at a cable TV channel and has a meltdown on air a few months after the end of a relationship he has clearly not gotten over. Given time off to recover he sets about finishing odd jobs at home and ends up hiring a Mexican day worker
to do a paint job. This man, Ernesto (Alejandro Patiño)
is a 55 year-old father of 5 who barely speaks English. Sean, whose own grasp of Spanish is minimal takes it upon himself to use Ernesto as a sort of confidant/therapist/companion and takes his rowing,
hiking and to a gay party in addition to the painting work. When he starts to get too heavy, Ernesto backs off unleashing even more angst and loss for Sean.
and adapting to loss and how for some people it can be so hard. Butler makes it humorous and is aided by Bomer’s likeable almost slapstick characterization (The LA gay
who is trendy but underneath struggles with all that because he is lonely). The lack of verbal language in common between the two also gives us a few laughs and Patiño plays his character discretely and with respect.
Small but meaningful with comments on the LA world and the treatment of migrants thrown in.
Adam and Marklin are at the five year point and wondering what else is there if they don’t plan on children.
Elizabeth is at the 15 year point and thinks everything is settled. Cammy has a homeless man basically using her as a last resort
and Haley is the recipient of a schoolboy crush.
as a fake and very successful artist and Ludovic Littee’s photography is another strong point.
from opening it “because if they really need help they will ring twice”. Next day, the police arrive and her security camera reveals that it was a young girl from Gabon who has been found dead by the nearby river. Jenny feels guilty and sets about trying to find the identity of the girl and even offers to pay for a funeral plot. She asks around her patients
and the area and discovers that despite their insistence otherwise, people do know things and that sometimes this shows up in their health. Her investigation leads her into the underbelly of society. Nothing too sordid, just dull and grim.
in the lead but she is such a closed and respectful character, dour even, that I can understand why audiences didn’t respond.
The plot is relatively straightforward but gives the film some momentum, while as ever, the view of contemporary Belgian lower middle class society is interesting. The main drawback to the film is however a monotony of tone and pacing that mean that even the “big” scenes have a flatness that is in fitting with context and characters but does not inspire. A solid enough addition to their repertoire but not one of their best. Jeremie Renier
and Olivier Gourmet, favourite actors of the brothers both appear.
passionfilm 