Published:
Eläville ja kuolleille
The family’s younger son has died in an accident in the yard of their home. Those left behind try to find a way forward amidst their grief. While the mother mourns inconsolably, it falls to the father to take care of the family’s daily routines. The surviving son feels that he has lost not only his little brother but also his parents. The lack of understanding from those around them makes the family’s situation more difficult, and alongside the heavy loss, earlier, unresolved, and unspoken griefs begin to surface.
The film begins the day after the accident and quietly and compassionately follows an ordinary Finnish family’s recovery during the first year of mourning. Gradually, the loss transforms the family’s seemingly unchanged daily life. Themes such as grief and the inability to grieve, the different ways and timing in which men, women, and children mourn, and the surrounding community’s need to forget and carry on “as if nothing had happened” are some of the key elements in this fundamentally hopeful film.
The film is based on a true series of events that took place in 1986 in Pietarsaari, and the screenplay was written in close collaboration with the family who lost their child.
Director:
Kari Paljakka
Starring:
Hannu-Pekka Björkman
Katja Küttner
Johannes Paljakka
Risto Salmi
Hannu-Pekka Björkman won the Jussi Award for Best Actor.