Minna Haapkyla Movies

This Finnish-language period fantasy tells the story of the altruistic giver St. Nicholas, the man who became Santa Claus in myth and legend - and whose life, shown here childhood on, radiates with messages of selflessness and friendship. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Like the American pictures Magnolia and Happy Endings, French helmer Nicole Garcia's ensemble drama Charlie Says interweaves a tapestry of mordant and miserable existences. Garcia zeroes in on six vice-ridden Gallic men, all generally average and unremarkable individuals, and several at the midpoints of their sorry lives. The characters include: Mathieu (Patrick Pineau), an artic researcher returning to the town where he grew up to host an important conference; Adrien (Arnaud Valois), a national celebrity notorious for losing a tennis match, who must now resume formal court training; small-town mayor Jean-Louis Bertagnat (Jean-Pierre Bacri) , who prepares to honor Mathieu at a town ceremony and bides his off time in a stormy extramarital affair with landscape gardener Severine (Sophie Cattani); ex-con Joss (Benoit Pooleverde), a man attempting to survive parole without drifting back into crime; pool worker Serge Torres (Vincent Lindon) , a husband and father who flirts dangerously with married Finnish co-worker Nora (Minna Haapkyla); and Serge's son, the Charlie of the title (Ferdinand Martin) who has Nora's husband as a teacher but consents to ably assisting his father in the execution of an affair with Nora by falsely indicating his father's whereabouts to his mother. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Producing Adults concerns a fertility counselor named Venla who is, ironically, childless. Although she wants to be a mother in the worst way, her significant other has no desire to become a father. One of Venla's co-workers, a doctor named Satu, offers to impregnate Venla with one of the samplings from the sperm donations kept at the clinic. The plot thickens when Venla begins to have serious feelings for Satu. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi