Synopsis

“This year’s Un Certain Regard champ, Juho Kuosmanen’s tender, melancholic boxing biopic beguiles from start to Finnish. There are two kinds of underdog boxing drama: those that end in against-all-odds glory, and those that end, happily or otherwise, in upheld underdog status. (…) A lyrical sense of bittersweet acceptance permeates freshman director Juho Kuosmanen’s marvelous sports biopic from its very first, perfectly composed frame. This vérité-style study of the eponymous fighter’s preparation for a home-turf title fight against a daunting American champ is less preoccupied with in-the-ring action than with the equally draining rigors of the publicity circuit. It punches its way into the upper ranks of cinematic pugilist portraits by virtue of its exquisite craft and a lead performance of heart-bruising melancholy by Jarkko Lahti. (…) The combination of fact-based, boxing-themed realism and vivid black-and-white imagery might tempt marketers and critical quote-mongers into “Raging Bull” comparisons, but this is a far smaller, more guardedly tender work. Its exactingly constructed period milieu and textured, luminous aesthetic — if any film can be termed “shimmeringly weathered”, this is the one…” (Guy Lodge, Variety)

Around The World in 14 Films 2016, presented by Jan-Ole Gerster – in attendance of director Juho Kuosmanen, the leading actress Oona Airola and the band

With the support of Agentur Britta Imdahl

agentur_imdahl

Credits

 

+++ Berlin Premiere +++

 

 

OT: Hymyilevä mies
Country: Germany, Finland, Sweden 2016
Production: Aamu Filmcompany Ltd., One Two Films Berlin, Tre Vänner Produktioner AB, Film Väst AB, ARTE
Cast: Jarkko Lahti, Oona Airola, Eero Milonoff
Format: DCP / bw
Length: 92 min.
Language: Finnish OV / German subtitles
Distribution Germany: Camino, info@camino-film.com
Festivals: Cannes, Munich, Karlovy Vary, Melbourne, Toronto, Vancouver, London, Chicago, Busan, Tokyo etc.
Awards: Cannes Un Certain Regard, Zurich etc.

 

Offizieller Auslands-Oscar-Kandidat von Finnland