SUOMI/FINLAND, 2008

Ohjaus/Director: Miika Soini
Käsikirjoitus/Screenplay: Miika Soini
Kuvaus/Cinematography: Daniel Lindholm
Leikkaus/Editing: Jerem Tonteri
Lavastus/Set Design: Antti Nikkinen
Puvustus/Costumes: Emilia Eriksson
Ääni/Sound: Kimmo Vänttinen
Musiikki/Music: Lars Enersen
Näyttelijät/Cast: Lasse Pöysti, Pentti Siimes, Mauri Heikkilä, Aarre Karén, Marja-Leena Kouki, Eila Halonen
Tuotanto/Production: Silva Mysterium Oy
Tuottajat/Producers: Janne Wrigstedt, Mika Ritalahti, Niko Ritalahti
Kieli/Language: suomi/Finnish
Kesto/Duration: 70 min.


Miika Soini’s film Thomas is one of the premiers of our festival; it is also one of the best Finnish films in years. With the discipline to keep the story restrained, the director has held fast to the basic tenets of filmmaking: strip it down to its basics and let it unfold slowly. Lasse Pöysti brilliantly underplays the role of an old lonely widower who lives in a basement hole – a place from which he can observe the world pass. Occasionally, this world includes a young woman’s cleavages. At other times, it includes forays to a park bench where with Zen-like dignity he can sit for hours on end while a slightly younger man played (Pentti Siimes) smokes small cigars.

Soon, a silent friendship builds between these two men; it is a friendship based less on verbal exchanges than on a mutual interest to help each other pass time. Chess becomes not only their sport of choice but a leading metaphor for their lives. With minor and major moves making up most of what constitutes our existence, the affect of our chosen actions are difficult to estimate ahead of time.

Like the films of Matti Ijäs, Soini’s film is wise, quiescent, and beautifully simple. It is a film with a soul – a soul that relies heavily upon Lasse Pöysti’s unaffected acting. This vision of aging brings to mind Jukka Sipilä’s Aliisa, where Siiri Angerkoski proved that great actresses do not need props such as rolling pins and coffee pots to allude to aging. The final scene in Thomas is bloodcurdlingly real in both its’ inner peace and its eerily transcendent feel. It is proof that greatness of vision lies not in excessive emotional displays but in moderation. (LT)