Ikitie (The Eternal Road)
2017
***½
Director: Antti-Jussi Annila
Cast: Tommi Korpela, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Irina Björklund, Ville Virtanen, Helen Söderqvist, Lembit Ulfsak
One night in 1930, far-right extremists are about to shoot Jussi Ketola as a suspected socialist, but he escapes across the border to Soviet Union. Jussi hopes for a swift return home to his family, but instead he is sent to Helmi, a state farm where a group of North American immigrants have arrived to build a worker’s paradise. This captivating Finnish drama is based on the novel by Antti Tuuri, which in turn was inspired by the true story of Nestori Saarimäki. Dreams and reality crash in Helmi, and the consequences are harrowing. The performances are great, but I wish there was at least one native speaker playing the North Americans.
