Presented by the Scandinavian Film Festival
Heart of a Lion opens with an innovative way to do the ironing, but by the end of the film, there should be things on your mind other than laundry. This is a love story; of sorts. Or rather, a number of entwined stories about love: compelling, misguided and fractured love that makes people do extraordinary things.
The beautiful Laura Birn plays a waitress, Sari, who falls for main character, Teppo (Peter Franzén), before she realises that he is a neo-Nazi. She has a son from a previous relationship, Rhamadhani (Yusufa Sidibeh), and Teppo learns that to keep the girl, he’s going to have to make peace with the son.
Teppo’s gang of boneheads, which includes his brother Harri (Jasper Pääkkönen), are all tattooed with the heraldic lion from Finland’s coat of arms. Citing “national pride” they go looking for trouble and ultimately threaten Teppo’s new life. The man he used to be, and the man he wants to become, cannot co-exist.
Heart of a Lion is as gripping as it is exhaustingly disturbing. Written by Aleksi Bardy, the fluid script allows Franzén to develop Teppo utterly convincingly from what seemed, on paper, an unlikely premise. Ably directed by Dome Karukoski, Franzén’s performance of a largely unlikeable character is excellent, as is Pääkkönen as his deeply disturbed brother. The latter won a Jussi (Finland’s Oscars) for Best Supporting Actor in this role, and it’s easy to see why; the character, particularly in the fight scenes, seems frighteningly real.
Look out for Cinematographer Henri Blomberg’s particularly impressive shot-in-reflection of a hastily retreating car, which adds a nice touch of visual intrigue to the action.
Billed as a drama-comedy, Heart of a Lion is heavy on the former, as might be expected in a film about extremists filled with consuming hatred. The neo-Nazi characters are so abhorrent as to be about as funny as, well, neo-Nazis beating up someone because of the colour of their skin. That said, the comedic aspects are well played and bring some welcome lightness to the grimly dark decisions made by some of the characters.
The film ends with the line, “Sorry for the mess”; a poignant phrase with multiple meanings… It’s unlikely you’ll leave this film feeling uplifted, but it is powerful, confronting, and worth a look.
Heart of a Lion is in Finnish with English subtitles, and is Rated 18+. It screened as part of the Scandinavian Film Festival exclusively at the Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas.
Reviewed by Gordon Forester
Twitter: @GordonForester
Rating out of 10: 7
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