Customer Reviews

Mother of Mine

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This film has always haunted me. I saw it two years ago on a long flight and was completely struck by it's quality...the photography is completely breathtaking, the writing and storyline is top-notch, and the acting and directing is superb. Being adopted I think this film has an added bittersweetness for me yet it's accessable to anyone because of its complete loyalty to the characters. This film is a true delight, and heartbreak, from beginning to end. It plays like a dream within a dream.
The woman who plays the adopted mother steals the show as you see her emotional range from one end of the spectrum to the complete other end. I felt every single thing she was going through. This is film making at its most beautiful. Bravo!!!!!

After the outbreak of war between Finland and Russia, during World War II, the nine-year old boy, Eero, is sent from Finland to live with a family in neutral Sweden. (The film tells us that over 70,000 Finnish children were sent to Sweden for refuge.) Eero's indomitable spirit shines through as he adjusts to his new surroundings, dealing with the language difference and new relationships with his foster parents and the other schoolchildren. What will happen when he is supposed to return to Finland? This film is visually pleasing, with gorgeous vistas of the Swedish coastland, and very moving in its simple human story. I loved it and very highly recommend it!

... for us to watch this poignant film about a child displaced by war, without remembering the issues of that war, or recalling our own or our families' roles in that war? "Mother of Mine" is set in Finland and southern Sweden in the last years of World War II, but war per se is only a backdrop, a cause without a Cause, to the tragedy of the boy Eero, whose father has been killed in battle and whose mother sends him away for his own safety. Eero is twelve years old, speaks only Finnish, but he is taken to live on a farm in Skåne, a rural province of Sweden, by an agency that transported at least 70,000 Finnish children as refugees to such safety. The Swedish family that accepts Eero has recently been traumatized by the death of their own child, and the Mother find's Eero's arrival horribly painful. Meanwhile, Eero's natural mother has found another "man" to love; she will eventually need to choose between the new man and the son whom she's given away.

The film narrative is structured as a 'flashback' in the mind of Eero as a 70-year-old man, summoned to the funeral in Sweden of his adoptive mother. Returning from Sweden, Eero visits his birth mother in a nursing home, despite the truth that he has never reconciled himself to her 'abandonment' of him. In a lovely reversal of the usual cinematography, the story of Eero's boyhood is filmed in color, while Eero's visitations after most of a lifetime are filmed in black-and-white.

The War, nevertheless, was a presence in my mind while watching this film, possibly because I spent some of my own childhood in Sweden, possibly because I'm just old enough to remember the post-war years clearly. Finland was aligned with Germany in that War; Eero's father fought against the "Allies", specifically against Russia, and Eero's mother worked for the German Occupation Forces. Her new lover was a German soldier. Sweden was purportedly a 'neutral' country, but Swedes of a certain age will forever feel a certain discomfort about that neutrality, which allowed the Germans to transit and attack Norway. At the same time, large numbers of Norwegian Jews fled to Sweden for asylum, and it's true that throngs of Finnish children were fostered during and after the War. It's also true that children of many nations were separated from the families and sheltered in foreign lands. The greatest WW II novel of all, in my opinion -- Austerlitz, by WG Sebald -- tells the story of a Jewish German boy rescued to exile in England.

Most viewers, I'm sure, will accept this film on its own a-polotical, a-historical terms. It's a potently sentimental story, a heart-render with an unexpectedly 'gentle' ending. The acting is incredible. Why is it that unknown, never-seen-before-or-again actors are so much more skillful in their portrayals on the screen than all the touted, overpaid, Oscar-acclaimed stars? Eh? Oh well ... Great photography, crisp editing, excellent dialogue (in Finnish and Swedish, but well subtitled). A fine movie for those who appreciate sentiment.

When Russia bombed Finland in World War II, more than 70,000 Finnish children were sent to neutral Sweden by their parents to escape the horrors of war. This film personalizes that history by focusing on one family's story. The film begins when Eero Lahti makes an emotional return to Sweden as an adult for the funeral of the mother who welcomed him into their home, and with him confessing to his aged mother about his lifelong feelings of abandonment by her. The movie then reverts to 1943 when Eero was only nine years old. The Swedish host family, Hjalmar and Signe, had its own motives, both good and bad, for hosting a "war child" from Finland, and then its own ways of dealing with Eero once he was with them. Eero's biological mother, Kirsti, had her own deeply mixed emotions of guilt, regret, and love, along with horrible choices to make during the war. In between these two mothers is little Eero who as an adult still deals with the psychological complexities of two mothers who loved him in their deeply human but broken ways. In Finnish and Swedish with English sub-titles.

Mother of Mine tells a very sparce and moving story of the consequences of war. With good intentions, the people of Finland work out an arrangement to send their children to Sweden. This story of one boys experience and the transformation that takes place for him and his adoptive family is truly moving. Grab a box of tissue...

This film is set around Finland's evacuation of more than 70,000 children to Sweden, Denmark and Norway during World War II. The story focuses on one of the war children, a nine year old Finnish boy and emphasizes the intricate psychology of its characters, brought to life by its powerful cast. The film is directed by Klaus Haro, Finland's most significant director. The screenplay is by Jimmy Karlsson and Kirsi Vikman, based on the novel by Heikki Hietamies. The film provides insights into the ways adults use children to fulfill their needs. This is an amazing piece of art that will capture your emotions with its spectacular acting, cinematography and narrative. You do not want to miss this experience and it might even give you the urge to call your mother.

The film focuses on a powerful moving drama of a young boy, Eero, 9, is confused with the emotions of abandonment, rejection, love and acceptance. Haunted by the past, 60ish Eero confronts his mother about what transpired in his youth.

Told in flashback, the story begins during WWII, Young Eero's father has died. He is one of 70,000 Finnish children who were sent to Sweden families for temporary custody and safety. Eero is sent to a childless family where he doesn't understand the language, is unwanted by the surrogate mother, Signe, more accepting by the father Hjalmar, and often confused about the whereabouts of his own mother, confused by her actions.

Although the relationship between Signe and Eero is cold and distant, predictably, the mood changes when Signe confides in Eero the truth about the death of their child.

The 2005 film is based upon a book but directed by Klaus Haro and received numerous awards for his second film. His fame is his debut film Elina: As If I Wasn't There ( Elina - Som om jag inte fanns )]. Notice the "Film Movement" on the packaging, a company that distributes foreign films that have otherwise, not been accessible in the mainstream. The films are quality, good writing, with great directing and actors.

About the film, Klaus Haro, the director, said: ...... we can capture something universal in the feelings of exclusion and rootlessness that we associate with the experiences of the war children. The themes are strongly relevant to any child who has been separated from his/her parents, to anyone for whom growing up has generally been hard due to the secrets they carry in their heart".

This is true, many people will be touched by this film, understanding the anguish of abandonment, rejection, love, acceptance, etc.

The cinematography illustrates beautiful sweeping views of the countryside, beautiful but low key mood music. The film is touching, see it with the entire family. .....Rizzo

This movie was deeply touching. In many ways it was the Finnish version of Terms Of Endearment. The main character, Eero is sent from his home in Finland when attacks by the Russians during WWII intensifies. He is taken in by a farm family in Sweden, initially the new mother rejects him and is harsh but eventually their attachment strenghthens until he is truly their child. After some time passes, his mother requests him to remain with this new family, all are pleased. Not long after, he is returned home and all are traumatized. It is not until years later that we realize that the emotions faced by the adults who loved him and made choices in his best interest.
The movie moved rapidly with great cinematography, I don't usually notice lighting but the attention to lighting scenes and the use of black and white for the present while the flashbacks to the past are in color was a brilliant way to transition the movie as well as moving the plot forward.
The actors were superb, they were the parents. Eero, the young boy was very convincing with his facial expressions. The music was topped of this epic. This goes down as one of the great foreign films of this decade.

Wow, I am so glad I took a chance on this. Just an amazing film, and the acting is superb. Well worth investing your time on a job truly well done. Highly recommend.

Wow, I am blown away by this film! Amazing acting, and moving story. Can't rave enough about it, and will recommend it to friends.