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Fire-Eater
The twin sisters Helena and Irene are born in Helsinki during World War II. A few months later their mother, Sirkka, leaves the girls in the care of their grandmother, an old communist, and runs away with a German soldier. Their life under the protection of their grandmother and the teachings of communism ends first with the death of Stalin, then with that of their grandmother. The girls are eight years old when they are put in an orphanage. Their mother shows up at the orphanage in the company of Ramon, a Spanish trapeze artist. They are on a talent search for a German circus. Ramon trains the reluctant Irene during circus tours in Central Europe. She becomes the trapeze star of the circus. The hard work soon exhausts Irene and she falls from height, as if on purpose. Helena has secretly learned the art of fire-eating. Now she is burdened with both her mother and her sister. The violent life, however, separates the three from each other. In the present-day Helsinki the middle-aged...
| Release : | 1998 |
| Rating : | 6.6 |
| Studio : | SVT Drama, MRP Matila Röhr Productions, |
| Crew : | Production Design, Director of Photography, |
| Cast : | Elena Leeve Elsa Saisio Jani Volanen |
| Genre : | Drama |
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Reviews
Touches You
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
Blistering performances.
The acting in this movie is really good.
Continuing in my own Finnish film appreciation odyssey, I'm disappointed to share this one just didn't reach me: yet, still it's of interest to see: As in that 'interestingly', contrasting monochrome reality (?) of today, with colour dream-like reminiscences, but by which, (for me) just far too many non-sequitur - why that, how does that fit? - scenes (e.g. main actress Leeve, merely strolling through the apparent invasion of Hungary scene, everyone running in the opposite direction, military vehicles and explosions all around her, but to no discern to her? Wading through iced over frozen river to no discernible hypothermia effect afterwards in an ostensibly unheated van only ?)But, what was really worth seeing was that performance by Ms. Leeve: throughout using almost nothing but her eyes to project the uncertainty / bewilderment at the predicaments that occur to her and her twin sister: of which one scene that makes this (almost) worth the time of entry, is when they both play at grown ups together: superb performances (Elina Leeve again and with Elsa Saisio) and direction*.Not my cup of tea (mouthful of fire liquid!), but for those who like to be immersed in dream-like apparently random developments, probably delightful.* Of whom, Pirjo Honkasalo (in info gleaned from IMDb sites) is just happenstance that as her 'also known as' second name is also 'Irene' - i.e. the same as one of the twin sisters, and that as played by actress who just coincidentally happens to also have the same surname (Saisio) as the screenwriter, of whom, is her (director Honkasalo's) partner (in real life): all of which may - or rather likely not - be relevant to the understanding of it all, perhaps .. or likely not? (Plus also note that: first ever (and TEN star!) review here came from a (merely coincidentally, interestingly) "pirjo of Finland" - and which is the only one 'she' has ever posted .. "curiouser and curiouser" :-)
"Life consists of the gifted and those who serve"(the 25th Seattle International Film Festival official program). The film nostalgically shows a middle-aged lady (Helena)'s memory of her relationship with her twin sister, Irene, who was a star in a circus. Their extraordinary love led them to a fatal separation, when Helena found out that Irene stole her only skill 'fire-eating'. It's a memory of remorse. The stunning images and repeated symbological scenes made an emotionally powerful film.
This is definitely one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. It feels like everything is just right in this film, acting, photography and directing are all great. While watching it I felt that I could just sit in the movie theathre and watch it for days, the pictures followed one another so naturally... hard to explain! It`s probably easy to notice that I really love this film and can recommend it to everyone. But still, I am not sure if I want to see "Tulennielijä" again because watching it was such a marvellous experience that I`m a bit afraid that it would be spoiled-especially if I had to watch it from a tiny TV-screen.
