Outi Mäenpää Movies

Upon discovering that her husband is having an affair, a Helsinki gynecologist attempts to gather more knowledge about her rival and, in the process, becomes hopelessly entangled in the other woman's life - partially on purpose but primarily out of happenstance. Saara is pretty, elegant, liberal, and friendly to a fault. Yet while surface appearances would suggest that Saara is something of an open book, the truth is that lately no one has looked deeper enough to notice otherwise. Driven by jealousy to find out why her husband Leo has grown distant as of late, the sleuthing wife soon discovers that her spouse has recently entered into an affair with a young student and part-time martial arts instructor named Tulli. Her desire to learn more about Tulli growing with each passing hour, Saara eventually signs up as a student in one of the woman's self-defense classes. Eventually, Saara integrates herself into Tulli's life by blending fact and fiction to create a new persona. While Saara's crafty bid to find out more about Tulli without revealing her true identity is indeed successful, her deceptions start to snowball after she creates a fictitious lover in order to mislead her husband. The satisfaction of turning the tables on her husband gradually begins to dissipate, however, when the complex web of deceit becomes too unwieldy to maintain, plunging everyone involved into a hopeless cycle of despair and revenge. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Aki Kaurismaki's The Man Without a Past opens with the title character (Markku Peltola) being savagely beaten. At the hospital he is declared dead, but he sits up and walks out on his own power. He is taken in by a mother and her two sons, discovers an old jukebox that inspires local musicians, and discovers he has skills as a welder. When he becomes unwittingly involved in a bank robbery, and the man is unable to give the police his name, the cops send out feelers trying to figure out the man's identity. Soon his wife appears. The Man Without a Past was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival where it was awarded the Grand Prix, the most storied prize after the Palme D'Or. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

A married couple struggles with the repercussions of unexpected unemployment in this wry comedy drama from Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki. Ilona, the wife, works as restaurant hostess and her husband Lauri drives a tram. Though the couple has recently lost a child, they both seem at peace and happy. One night Ilona comes home and finds that Lauri has purchased a beautiful television on credit. Shortly thereafter disaster strikes when Ilona's workplace closes and Lauri gets caught in a maelstrom of downsizing. Neither is able to find suitable work right away and as time crawls by, they become humiliated and testy with each other. Eventually Ilona gets a job cooking and bartending in a nameless sleazy dive while her husband, after having to sell their television and car, turns to booze. Things look bad for the marriage when suddenly Ilona decides to open a restaurant. With the backing of her former boss and using her coworkers, she and Lauri open the successful Worker's Rest café and find renewed hope. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Little Anni (Kirsikka Tykkylaainen) has lost her mother. Now she and her father Timppa (Kari Heiskinen) live alone. This wouldn't be so bad, but her eminently loveable dad is such a lousy cook, and also it seems a shame that he should have to be alone. So Anni makes it her business to find a mate for her shy father. She manages to get Timppa to date a lot of different women. One woman after another is tried out: this one is too brisk, that one is too insensitive. It seems that no one is quite right, until Leena (usanna Haavisto), a very nice redheaded woman, comes along. With Anni's help, she is walking down the aisle in no time. This lively Finnish children's movie features a great many songs which highlight or comment on the action. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi