In 1984 Aki Kaurismäki wrote: ”Mänttäri’s films have the troublesome effect of gnawing at us, sneering at us from behind corners, sticking their tongues out, robbing us of our sleep, families, wives, children and finally disappearing as if earth itself had swallowed them up. Just as you were about to pay the price for admission.”
Katja (Hanna Manu), just about to enter adulthood, returns from a long absence to her father Ossi Eerola (Antti Litja) with a shedload of bitter questions. Why did dad divorce mom? Why did they always argue? Time has wrought father and daughter apart like celestial objects, separated by a confusing void.
Mänttäri paints a ruthless and deeply insightful family portrait of the pair’s meeting with a delicately humanist touch. The film sagely shows us that almost nothing in this life goes exactly as planned. Man’s fervent attempts at communication beg the question whether actual connection and mutual understanding are ever truly possible.
Film critic Mikael Fränti thought the film was Mänttäri’s finest work, writing: ”I think Mänttäri has gathered all his themes from his 1980s oeuvre and pieced them together into an extremely accomplished drama, which doesn’t contain a single unnecessary scene, word or look.” If the Finnish soul does have a mirror, Anssi Mänttäri is the reflection.
Joonas Nykänen