Lapua 1976

The film tells as much about its production as it is about the subject it portrays. The first full length film by the director Toni Kurkimäki is clearly a passion project to him and the crew who are mainly composed of culture workers and artists from Lapua and wider Östrabothnia. Hugely ambitious project about a major ammunition factory disaster from a young inexperienced director did not get its trust from the Finnish film foundation, but did manage to receive enough enthusiasm and funding from the local community to get it done. The director and producer committed to take a huge loan in order to get the film finished and to the big screen, which tells you all about the passion behind this film. The story is quite generic (one could say it's Titanic set in Lapua during the 1976 disaster) but what makes the film work is the chemistry and performance of its cast as well as the sense of community and passion behind the film, aas well as the attention to detail. From the sets, to the music and to makeup. The film could have used more scenes shots in Lapua as most of the film happens either in the factory halls or inside apartments which can get get a bit repetitive at times. The main cast of characters are all a bit generic but also interesting, maybe aside from Matti whose only weakness seems to be that he has none of them (which funnilly enough is how most men in the region tend to see themselves). Despite the best efforts the explosion scene is not as impressive as the opening scene of the film, though it does have a disturbingly well made audio production.

The film tells as much about the subject as it tells about its makers and this one has a lot of emotion behind it!