{mosimage}Obviously, the cinema that best portrays Finland is the Finnish cinema. But apart from directors like Kaurismäki brothers, JP Silli, Aku Louhimies or Petri Kotwica, there are winks to Finland and Finnish culture in movies made abroad. FREE! Magazine brings you a few examples!
Confessions of a Shopaholic (USA)
Now in cinema theatres. There is a funny dialogue in "Finnish" when the main character assist to a social event.
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Link to YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5muyAz5DYM
Zugvögel … einmal nach Inari (Germany)
Hannes is a beer-truck driver in Dortmund. His biggest dream is to win the train Time-Table Contest in Inari (Finland). He will have a twisted trip to Finland where he will meet all kind of people and also…love
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Earth Girls are easy (USA)
{mosimage}There is an hilarious moment when the aliens are watching TV and they claim that Norway is the capital of Finland… The relation between Geena Davis and Renny Harlin has probably a lot to do with this wink. And obviously, if you are a fan of Harlin´s movies, you must have notice that he always places objects or references to Finland in his movies.
Link to video in YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSbiL725hVQ
Los Amantes del Círculo Polar (Lovers from the Arctic Circle)(Spain)
Julio Medem is one of the best Spanish directors of the last decades, and this is probably his masterpiece. A romantic and beautiful love story that drags the two main characters into a trip to Finland. A must see!
Osobennosti natsionalnoy okhoty (Peculiarities of the National Hunting) (Russia)
Finnish actor Ville Haapasalo is a well known character in Russian cinema. This title is the first one of a comedy saga, and has some hilarious moments. Do not miss how a cow can end up inside a fight plane. The drunkards Russian do not know in the end at what side of the border they are, if the Finnish or the Russian one.
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Aaltra (Belgium)
If you like indie movies, this one is for you. Two paraplegics who hate each other into a road trip that leads them to Finland, with the wish of meeting Aki Kaurismäki.
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And some other “Finnish” moments in foreign films that come to my mind is the beginning of the newest Chacal, shot in Helsinki, Charlie´s Angels using Finnish as a secret communication language, the Finnish hacker in Operation Swordfish (although he does not speak Finnish when interrogated), the crazy Nokia mobile phone in Transformers, Night on Earth and the taxi driver in Helsinki…
If you remember more, just drop us a line and maybe we can altogether create a continuation to this article!