

Director: Klaus Hr
Cast: Topi Majaniemi, Maria Lundqvist, Marjaana Maijala, Michael Nyqvist, Esko Salminen, Aino-Maija Tikkanen

This film was submitted by Finland to Oscar 2006 .

The official website
see
http://www.motherofmine.com/

Synopsis:
The story revolves around a kid who was sent by his Finnish mother during WWII to the neutral Sweden. It traced how unwilling he was to leave, and ended in a family (with a "new" mother that never seemed to really like him ...) ... and upon his return to his Finnish mother, did not like to talk about the war; but as an adult now, he wanted to talk about it ... was it to make his Finnish mother guilty? 

My thoughts:

-- I would like to highlight two noteworthy aspects ...

(i) the complexity of human relationships ... although the topic of war and kids have been too frequently visited, this film does stir your emotions, especially towards the end ... although i cannot claim that it is high key throughout, or it has many surprises, i have to qualify that patience and sitting through till the end does pay off ... 

on reflection (when the credits roll), one begins to wonder about several issues in life ...
e.g., do adults really know what kids want? are their interests always being attended to?
e.g., do we always assume we know what happened? do we get to see the other side of the story?
e.g., do we have a heart to accept? do we have a heart to forgive?
etc

In essence, humanity is rather complex ...

(ii) the technique ... i am not sure if any other reviews have discussed abt this ... but i thought it was rather significant ... 

unlike most films whereby the present is filmed in color and the past in black and white, this film adopted the opposite approach ... the present is featured in black and white whie the past is filmed in color ... while some people may attribute it simply to the fact that most of the plot is about the past (hence, it may be more pleasant to have that in color), i chose to "interprete" it otherwise, even if it was not the director's intention ... (recall we discussing abt commending the director for efforts which was not intentional?! hee hee) ... 

i chose to understand it as ... hey, the past could be colorful if we take a relook at it and understand it differently ... moreover, arent childhood days the most colorful and memorable? hee hee ... and as we grow into adults, things become more gray (hues of black and white) ... and maybe even more plain ...

it would be interesting if any of you could find an article/interview abt this ... or if you happened to have a Q&A with the director ...


Conclusion:
Highly recommended ... but do not expect a "typical war" film ... it is all about understanding humans, and a great cast ...