Tove

I wish they could have found more subject matter, to make a film about a great artist and author, than to shove as many "bohemian artist drinking", "look at me, I'm dancing", and lesbian sex scenes, into this film as possible. It gets unfortunately dull pretty quick.

The story focuses on Tove Janssons formative years as an artist, during which time she also developed her most known characters, the moomins a lot. The film is well made, acting is top notch (especially Alma Pöysti in the lead role) and left me with a warm feeling. Don't expect a dramatic epoch or an intense drama with unexpected twist and turns.

Simply made, yet well crafted, "Tove" tells the story of the author's life in the years directly following the second world war, and the relationships and influences that led her to fame.

Unfortunately (and it always feels rather mean to write this about a film based on real life), there simply isn't enough drama in the story to make it really engaging

It does somewhat fall into the "lesbian period drama" trope, but a little bit of gay scandal isn't a reason to seek out a film in 2022. And based on the reactions of characters in the film, it was entirely tolerated in Helsinki's "artistic" circles anyway.

Husbands don't seem to mind affairs, struggling artists still seem to have the means to visit Paris, and already-published authors of children's cartoons seem to make a big fuss about how they would rather be a painter.

People should be more upset by divorce and deceit and failure. "Tove" is just too nice.

Be warned although based on the life of author of a kid's creation, this one is definitely not for the kids.

Although it's heartwarming and quite sad in places, it's one of the better biopic's on artists I've seen in a while. Carried by a excellent performance from Alma Pöysti as Tove Jansson, probably best known for Aki Kaurismaki's recent film Fallen Leaves. She's really a likeable presence on screen.

The film doesn't really shy away from Tove's Bisexuality or her sex life. Although I did think the film did underplay Tove's lifelong partner Tuulikki Pietila role in her life (she gets a few minutes near the end) and it's mostly based around her love affair with Vivica Bandler.

At 1hr 40mins, it doesn't overstay it's welcome. The cast are really excellent. It's not breaking any new ground or anything but having such a likeable lead actress in Pöysti carrying the film does help it. I hope that with success of Fallen Leaves, that we see more of her working outside of Finland.

The Finnish film Tove (2020) was directed by Zaida Bergroth. It stars Alma Pöysti as Tove Jansson, "one of the most beloved Finnish writers/cartoonists/artists," according to a knowledgeable reviewer.

Tove was the creator of the Moomins, important characters in Swedish-language books and comic strips. (Jansson was a member of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland.) She also wrote novels and children's fiction.

Alma Pöysti is a brilliant actor, and she makes Jansson's character come alive. This is important, because Pöysti is on the screen almost all the time. The movie rises or falls based on her skills.

The movie has two major plots. One plot revolves around the fact that Jansson wanted to be a recognized artist, not a cartoonist. Another plot involves Jansson's sexuality.

We saw this film at Rochester's wonderful Dryden Theatre, presented by ImageOut, the great LGBT film festival. (Of course, all safety protocols were in place.)

Tove has an IMDb rating of 7.2. I thought it was better than that, and rated it 8.