Kaappari (The Hijack That Went South)
2013
*½
Director: Aleksi Mäkelä
Cast: Kari Hietalahti, Aake Kalliala, Jussi Vatanen, Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Elina Keinonen, Merja Larivaara, Miitta Sorvali, Armi Toivanen, Ville Myllyrinne, Pirjo Määttä
In 1978, an unhinged Finnish businessman Aarno Lamminparras hijacked a flight from Oulu to Helsinki at gunpoint and held the crew and passengers for ransom. Aleksi Mäkelä's fictionalised dramatisation cannot decide whether it's a thriller or a farce, not that it's any good as either one. The events on the plane do not feel mildly threatening thanks to laid-back cockpit humour and Kari Hietalahti's manic-depressive performance in the lead. The authorities who attempt to deal with the situation on the ground are all portrayed as incompetent idiots, but I didn't find myself laughing at their buffoonery. The sum total of these parts is a mess. On the plus side, the period details are lovingly recreated. The script by Elias Koskimies and Mika Karttunen is based on Lauri Puintila's book Kaappari Lamminparras.
