Onnen maa (The Land of Happiness)
1993
****
Director: Markku Pölönen
Cast: Katariina Kaitue, Pertti Koivula, Anja Pohjola, Veikko Tiitinen, Tuula Väänänen, Taisto Reimaluoto, Riikka Räsänen, Tatu Kaihua, Heidi Hakkarainen, Reijo Taipale, Carl Mesterton, Jukka Puronlahti, Leo Raivio, Esa Halonen
Markku Pölönen's 60-minute feature debut tells a delightful coming-of-age story through the eyes of a young boy. While the boy's parents and grandmother run a farm, his grandfather is on his last legs, and his flashy but lazy uncle returns from the city. Pölönen's well-acted slice of nostalgia is set in his native eastern Finland, and it includes a typically Finnish serving of sex, death, alcohol, and tango.
