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Close-Up is a column that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Juho Kuosmanen's The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (2016) is playing July 1 - August 1, 2017 exclusively on Mubi in the United States.The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki is a subtle bait-and-switch of a film, but that’s okay. Certain generic conventions imply that it will head in a certain direction, but I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to tell you that it doesn’t. In fact, the refusal of Olli Mäki—the film and the man—to play by the rules is the most interesting thing it has going for it. The man, like the film, has a very clear trajectory mapped out in front of him, and a super-human form of concentration—the kind that makes “winners”—is demanded of him. Instead, Olli prefers to live a life of distraction,...

Chicago – As a film set in 1962, shot on glorious black & white 16mm stock, “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki” has both a feeling that it was made back then, and a timelessness that radiates from that quality. The film is about a boxer, but his heart turns out to be the champion.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

This is based on an actual event, the 1962 Featherweight boxing championship that took place in Finland, between the title character Olli Mäki and American Davey Moore. Although the match is the centerpiece, the story is about young love, and how it can be more important than the “biggest thing ever.” The dichotomy between the two factors is the engine of the plot, and creates a nice meditation on life’s priorities – similar to what happens in “Rocky” – and truer to a spirit of what transpires in real life. This is a hidden gem, which won awards at Cannes,...

Juho Kuosmanen’s first feature, The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, is a modest-seeming film that hits all of its marks with unusual precision, following featherweight boxer Mäki (Jarkko Lahti) in the two weeks leading up to a big fight against American champ Davey Moore. Mäki is nervous and evasive, slacking on his training and running away to the distraction of his maybe-fiance. Throughout the film, he’s trailed by a documentary crew (a detail based on reality) that repeatedly stages faux-verite scenes of Mäki in training, meeting financiers, et al. — in a sly way, Kuosmanen is almost congratulating himself on the high […]...

The story of a Finnish boxer taking on a big-shot Us star on home turf is the basis for this strange and wonderful comedy

Here is a treat and a delight: this lovely film from Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen is a gentle, shrewd, somehow mysterious love story, based on real life, beautifully photographed in luminous black-and-white and drawing inspiration from Scorsese and Truffaut. It is inspired by the Finnish boxer Olli Mäki, who electrified Finland’s boxing fans in 1962 by getting a shot at the world featherweight title, fighting on home turf against visiting American star Davey Moore. It is to be the greatest day of his life – but not for the reasons he might once have thought.

The movie has Jarkko Lahti playing the intense, wiry Olli, who finds that as the big fight approaches, he has fallen in love with a beautiful young schoolteacher, Raija (Oona Airola) – to...

Author: Stefan Pape

As a sub-genre, few are quite as consistently triumphant as boxing movies, thriving in notion of the underdog, surviving off that very concept that in that ring anything is possible, and no matter how much your back is against the ropes, no matter how many times you may be saved by the bell – one moment of magic and the contest could be turned in your favour. Finnish drama The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki revels in this very idea, based on a real life story that pitted an outside bet against a safe one – told in a uniquely Scandinavian way, where romance takes precedence over the archetypal sports narrative.

Set in 1962, we meet Olli Maki (Jarkko Lahti), the modest, self-effacing boxer awarded a shot at the World Featherweight title against Davey Moore (John Bosco Jr.) by his eager trainer, and self-imposed promoter Elis Ask (Eero Milonoff). A huge deal,...

"Could you box for the camera? Look cruel." Mubi has premiered an official Us trailer for the Finnish film The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, which critics have been raving about since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year. The film won the Grand Jury prize in Un Certain Regard, and went on to play at a bunch of other film festivals. Jarkko Lahti stars as Olli Mäki, and the film tells the true story of the famous Finnish boxer who fought American featherweight world champion Davey Moore for the 1962 title. This was shot entirely on 16mm black & white film, which looks great. The full cast includes Oona Airola as his love interest Raija, plus Eero Milonoff, Joanna Haartti, Pia Andersson, and the real Olli Mäki in a cameo role. I've heard nothing but superb things about this, and I can't wait to see it myself.

After premiering at Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Un Certain Regard Prize, Juho Kuosmanen‘s debut feature The Happiest Day In the Life of Olli Mäki went on to become Finland’s Oscar entry, and now it’ll get a U.S. release this spring courtesy of Mubi. Following a Finnish boxer whose newfound romance gets in the way of his training for a major fight, a U.S. trailer has now arrived and it looks to stunningly-photographed drama, all in black-and-white.

We said in our review, “The Happiest Day In the Life of Olli Mäki is a boxing biopic that has no interest in the sport of boxing. Winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Juho Kuosmanen’s dryly funny, blissfully sweet, and deceptively absorbing work revels in Olli Mäki’s psychological surroundings as he contends with the strangeness of national promotion,...

By Jose Solís.

In 1962, a young Finnish boxer faced featherweight champion of the world Davey Moore in a match that would go down in sports history as one of the most bittersweet for the tiny European country. Director Juho Kuosmanen has captured the event from the perspective of the challenger (played by Jarkko Lahti in a breakthrough) who finds himself vanishing among the excitement and pressure of the fight. The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki is a bittersweet tale about our need to create larger than life personalities that help us fulfill our desires, but fail to fulfill those who are actually participating in the experience. We see the sensitive, but quiet, Olli light up when he’s with his girlfriend Raija (Oona Airola), even though his manager Eelis (Eero Milonoff) suggests she will only make him lose the fight. Despite that the film is about a boxer,...

The Happiest Day In the Life of Olli Mäki is a boxing biopic that has no interest in the sport of boxing. Winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Juho Kuosmanen’s dryly funny, blissfully sweet, and deceptively absorbing work revels in Olli Mäki’s psychological surroundings as he contends with the strangeness of national promotion, the accruing pressures of competing, and a burgeoning romance that’s feeling more permanent than he expected.

Mäki (played by Jarkko Lahti) was a Finnish boxer who had a shot at the 1962 title when he faced American champion Davey Moore (John Bosco Jr.). Kuosmanen’s film drops in on Mäki shortly before the title fight when Mäki comes home to a small town for a family wedding and meets his future girlfriend, Raija (a deeply charismatic Oona Airola), the singer at said wedding. From these opening minutes,...

This weekend the Toronto International Film Festival will have the North American premiere of The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, a film which Mubi will be releasing theatrically in the Us and UK next year. Winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year (a prize won in recent years by such gems as Blissfully Yours, The Best of Youth, Moolaadé, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Tulpan, Dogtooth, The Missing Picture, White God and Rams) this beautiful, charming love story set in the world of boxing will be Mubi’s first ever theatrical release.Set in Finland in 1962 (the Finnish title Hymyilevä Mies translates as Smiling Man), The Happiest Day... tells the true story of national featherweight champion Olli Mäki and his world championship fight against American Davey Moore (a tragic figure commemorated in Bob Dylan’s song “Who Killed Davey Moore?”). Director Juho Kuosmanen...

Top prize in Un Certain Regard for The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival The jury in the sidebar Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival (headed by Swiss actress Marthe Keller) has awarded its top award to The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki by the Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen.

Filmed in back and white on 16mm, the story deals with the build-up to the 1962 world featherweight championship title match and in particular the tussle between country baker Mäki and American title holder Davey Moore.

A drama about a Japanese family whose life is shattered after a visitor comes to live with them was awarded the jury prize. Described as a “psychologic thriller”, Harmonium is directed by Foji Fukada.

Matt Ross' Captain Fantastic won best direction award for the director’s second feature. The film, launched at the Sundance Film Festival,...

The winners for the Un Certain Regard competition at the Cannes Film Festival were announced today with "The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki" directed by Juho Kuosmanen nabbing the top prize of the night. "Thank you for your weird taste in cinema," the director said upon receiving the award. "I am so surprised and happy." The black and white feature is based on the true story of the Finnish boxer Olli Mäki and his highly hyped 1962 championship match against the American featherweight champion Davey Moore. The film follows Olli as he unexpectedly falls in love and becomes more committed to pursuing a budding romance than training for his greatest fight. Read More: 'The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki' Trailer And Poster Shows The Inspiring Boxer Falling In Love The Jury Prize went to Japanese writer-director Kôju Fukada’s "Harmonium," about a man released from...

Update, Writethru: With 24 hours to go until the Palme d’Or and other winners are unveiled in the main Cannes Film Festival competition, its companion section, Un Certain Regard, handed out its laurels tonight. The top prize went to The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Maki. The black-and-white Finnish boxing drama/love story by Juho Kuosmanen chronicles the lead up to the real-life boxer’s 1962 world championship featherweight bout against Davey Moore and his distracted…...

The winners of the Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival were announced Saturday, with The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki taking the top prize. Finnish newcomer Juho Kuosmanen directed the film about the buildup to the 1962 world featherweight championship title match. The black and white film centered on the battle between country baker Olli Maki and American title holder Davey Moore. THR's review described it as a "delicate balance of humor, melancholy and sensitive human insight." Harmonium, directed by Koji Fukada, took the jury prize. The drama centers on a Japanese family whose

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"The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki" directed by Juho Kuosmanen is an upcoming film that will be screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Indiewire has your exclusive first look at the new trailer and poster for the Finnish movie that will have you smiling.  The black and white feature is based on the true story of the Finnish boxer Olli Mäki and his highly hyped 1962 championship match against the American featherweight champion Davey Moore. The film follows Olli as he unexpectedly falls in love and becomes more committed to pursuing a budding romance than training for his greatest fight. Read More: 2016 Cannes Film Festival: What You Need To Know About These 6 Un Certain Regard Titles The movie stars Jarkko Lahti as Olli, Oona Airola as Raija, Eero Milonoff and John Bosco Jr. The poster shows Olli in the bottom corner concentrated...