Heart of a Lion

Can love save us from an extremist ideology? That's the question addressed by "Heart of A Lion", four times nominated to the Jussi Awards (the Finnish equivalent of the BAFTA) in 2014. In addition to the actors' amazing performances (Peter Franzén is superb), the movie sensitively shows the trouble in having a normal life when we want to be an active representative to an ideology like nazism. Despite some tough moments and Dome Karukoski's accuracy to show how this extremely violent environment is, there is room for light in this Finnish movie. Little by little, Teppo finds his humanity and humbly realizes the limits of far-right ideologies that are indeed quite popular in Northern countries. Even though Finland is going to celebrate the first century of its independence, immigration is still rare and attachment to the roots and the national history are essential. Although the director says that "Heart of a Lion" could have been set anywhere, the story is the more legitimate and realist in Finland. This film sends us a beautiful moral: complicity, wiseness and reason can win against ignorance, exclusion and violence that, as shown by the movie, are synonyms of decay and degeneration instead of progress and growth. Full review on our blog Los Indiscretos : https://losindiscretos.org

OK. I must admit: I have not seen to many Finnish movies. But the few that I have seen has been either really boring or, if it is a comedy, really boring.

But this one. WOW! Nothing short of stunning, with great performances all over. Not just from Peter Franzén but also from the rest of the crew, the Nazi fellows not the least. Jasper Pääkkönen (try saying that name really fast ten times) playing the brother in the film is equally good.

The movie has a message. But it is not made "down your throat". Just as the Nazis in the movie are acting stupid, so is the black father and the gypsies. So lots of people with different colored skin and different backgrounds, acting stupid. Not just one part. As often in the real world.

Makes me wonder if there are more good Finnish movies. At least this one gives me a certain hope that there might be. Or at least some to come.

I can't comment on movies from Finnland in general or if there have been better ones in recent past than this one. But I can tell you, that this one is pretty damn good. And hopefully you're not offended by the "d"-word, because there's much worse coming your way in this movie. And while most of it could be viewed as borderline cliché and predictable as to were it is heading, the movie itself is able to not only get away with it, but be mesmerizing nonetheless.

It's the central performances (which includes the kid) and also the sensibility with which the movie is handled by everyone involved. Unfortunately stuff like this happens in real life too and it's not just fiction. Is there hope though? For the character(s) involved and for us in general?

I find this movie very enjoyable. Character interactions, emotions, scenes, dialogues and so on. The only problem with it is that it doesn't belong in this world. There are no people like this. I've spent most my childhood surrounded by right wing skins (many of them still my best friends). Then I've spent nearly 10 years being an immigrant and surrounded by people of very mixed origins. Again I repeat - people are not like that. What this movie does is it perpetuates harmful stereotypes and prejudice on both sides in the name of universal love and leftie brainwash. Use with caution.

The director is very talented but should rely more on his own life experience when telling stories rather than doing his liberal homework to get praise from his Starbucks friends. I think it would take him to another level.

The movie has a good message, the relationship between the "stepfather" and his son is heartwarming, their dialogue and the way they open up to each other is great, but all of that get's torn apart and gets ridiculed by the unbelievable stuff that is happening around them.

The conflicts and scenarios created in this movie are highly unrelatable and unrealistic, they don't mirror the reality at all, which is bad if you want to create a believable and relatable story. Some of the stuff that is happening is exaggerated at best, but most of the stuff that is happening is just outlandish fantasy.

One example.

All the hideous acts of racism and all the violence that has happend in this movie and not ONE single time was the press or police involved?! I mean no one calls the police or get's jailed, EVER. Like the only scene that someone got into CUSTODY is after something gets blown up with a grenade and even then, the person simply gets released without an investigation.

I don't know why they couldn't keep things more grounded and based on reality, it would have made this movie sooo much better, but instead this movie just tries too hard to shock people with exaggerated fights and conflicts.