"Kuutamolla" [2002 Finland] - A review

Aku Louhimies' chick-flick "Kuutamolla" [Eng. Title: Lovers and Leavers] looks at a Scandinavian version of Bridget Jones - slender and reserved, who hopes to meet and fall in love with the man of her dreams.

Iiris (Minna Haapkylä), reluctant to socialise, spends most of her free time watching films, and often quotes dialogues from them while conversing with the few friends she has. They try to hook her up with various people, and the one she likes and quickly falls in love with is a young and good looking film-maker named Marko (Peter Franzén). But he tires of her just as quickly and dumps a distraught Iiris unceremoniously, forcing friends to come to her aid. One of them is Laura (Laura Malmivaara), a mother of two married to Sami (Matti Ristinen). But Laura's history prior to Sami will unexpectedly catch up on her, and in the spur of the moment, abandons Sami and children to rendezvous with a former Argentinian lover. Iiris and Sami draw comfort in each other's arms and embark on an affair, until Laura returns just as suddenly as she fled, to claim back her family. Marko, having made a successful feature film début, becomes aware of Iiris' affair with Sami and now wants her back, even proposing marriage and inviting her to live in the US with him. She readily agrees, but on the way to the airport, changes her mind...

There's little meaningful criticism I could offer on this Hollywood-styled mainstream fare apart from stating my inability to enthuse on Iiris' character and story - I would have preferred to have followed Laura's story instead, which certainly offered greater drama and intrigue. Even the cut-away portions of Laura's affair that found its way into the deleted scenes section of the DVD didn't shed enough light on her story. The rest of the film is just about average - not terrible, but nothing special either. But knowing that the film wasn't particularly aimed at me - I'm tempted to recommend it to a female audience, perhaps in their twenties and thirties - I may be off the mark here, but then again we all carry our stereotypes with us, don't we..! ;)

Amazon DVD Link [PAL]

 

The Nudity: Heikki Vihinen, Minna Haapkylä, Matti Ristinen, and Peter Franzén
There is intermittent male nudity (ladies - take note), and Minna Haapkylä is the only female actor seen in the nude, frontal on a couple of occasions.



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