Kukkia & sidontaa (2004)

Uneven, but still absolutely fabulous

The Finnish movie Kukkia ja Sidontaa tell's the story of a little town and the workers of it's main employer, a slaughterhouse. The Manager of the slaughterhouse, Jyrki Koski, is a local Casanova, sending flowers and messing around almost with every woman in town. Eventually people get irritated by Jyrki and things get out of hand. The movie is about human relationships and how bad they can influence in one's life.

I have to admit that the movie is badly uneven. The shooting is jumpy and the end could have been done otherwise. There are great scenes and the are horribly bad ones too. But the great scenes make it all up.

Behind the movie is a Finnsh improvisation group Stella Polaris which compiles from a few of the most talented actors in Finland at the moment. For example Outi Mäenpää (playing Ali's on/off spouse Eve) and Simo Routarinne (playing Jyrki Koski). Out of the Stella Polaris I have to mention Miitta Sorvali who plays a little part as the bank manager. She is a mutable comedienne whose talent I would have enjoyed seeing more. There aren't any bad actors in this movie. They all play their parts better than most of the actors in the filming world today.

This is a movie for someone who likes good acting and realistic (but at the same time totally absurd) dialog. The slaughterhouse is an unusual place to set a movie. It gives and interesting twist to the mood of the film.