Paha maa (2005)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Aku Louhimies

Writers:

Paavo Westerberg (screenplay) and
Jari Rantala (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 January 2005 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

In the end things work out for the best for all of us.

Plot:

When a schoolteacher is sacked he projects his bad mood at his troubled teen son. He in turn buys a CD player from a pawnshop with counterfeit money...

Plot Keywords:

Counterfeit Money | Pawnshop | Car Salesman | Funeral | Domestic Violence

Awards:

17 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Jasper Pääkkönen	...	Niko Smolander
Mikko Leppilampi	...	Tuomas Mikael Saraste
Pamela Tola	...	Elina Oravisto
Petteri Summanen	...	Antti Arhamo
Matleena Kuusniemi	...	Hannele Arhamo
Mikko Kouki	...	Isto Virtanen
Sulevi Peltola	...	Teuvo 'Teukka' Hurskainen
Pertti Sveholm	...	Pertti Smolander
Samuli Edelmann	...	'Jartsa' Matikainen
Saara Pakkasvirta	...	Kauppiaan äiti
Pekka Valkeejärvi	...	Kauppias
Susanna Anteroinen	...	Rehtori
Niklas Hellakoski	...	Konsta
Emilia Suoperä	...	Maria
Jonathan Kajander	...	Joonatan 'Jonttu' Arhamo

Also Known As:

Frozen Land (Finland) (alternative title) (Hong Kong: English title) (festival title) (International: English title) (USA)
Eisiges Land (Germany) (TV title) [de]
Frozen Land (Denmark) [da]
Frozen Land (Netherlands) (festival title) [nl]
Fruset land (Sweden) [sv]
Terra Congelada (Brazil) (festival title) [pt]

Runtime:

130 min | UK:132 min

Country:

Finland

Language:

Finnish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Philippines:R-13 | Sweden:15 | Hong Kong:III | UK:18 | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Helsinki, Finland

Company:

Solar Films

Trivia:

There was severe disagreement on the final cut of this film. Director Aku Louhimies did not approve the edition, which Solar Films originally planned to release. On 2 December 2004 Louhimies filed Helsinki Municipal Court a cease and desist letter where he requests that Solar Films may not distribute the version he hasn't approved on threat of 300 000 euro fine. The situation was solved some days later, when Louhimies and producer Markus Selin agreed the dispute by making one more edition of the film, which satisfied both parties.

Movie Connections:

Version of L'argent (1983)

Soundtrack:

Oi Herra jos mä matkamies maan

Good story, good movie

I saw this film at the 2006 Palm Springs International Film Festival and Director Aku Louhimies introduced his film and was on hand for Q&A after. For some reason this movie is titled Frozen Land in English so I don't know how the distributors got frozen out of Paha. This is a very good film. It doesn't for me have enough that I would knock it up a notch to the excellent category but I did talk to some viewers who felt that it was an excellent film. Louhimies said that back in Finland people either loved this movie or hated it and said a lot of people in theaters walked out on it. I'm sure some objected to some of the violence, swearing, drug and alcohol abuse and sexual explicate scenes. It's a very clever story of how these different lives are woven together because of a trickle down effect. This film has very interesting and strong characters. I would rate it a 7.0 out of a possible 10 and would see it again and recommend it with caution.