Film alumnus wins at Cannes

31.05.2016

pic_5_345576_k345577_651Turku Arts Academy Film alumnus Mikko Myllylahti co-wrote the script for this year’s Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard prize winner ‘The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki’ Running time: 93min. (Original title: “Hymyilevä mies”)

“Finnish boxing biopic “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki” scored a knockout in this year’s Un Certain Regard competition at the Cannes Film Festival, beating 17 other titles to take the top prize from a jury headed by Swiss actress Marthe Keller.

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. Viewers who aren’t aficionados of Finnish fisticuffs could check the history books in advance to see where “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki” fits in, but they hardly need to: A lyrical sense of bittersweet acceptance permeates freshman director Juho Kuosmanen’s marvelous sports biopic from its very first, perfectly composed frame. …

Though it’s entirely unsentimental about the outcome — not one inspirational platitude escapes from any character’s lips — Kuosmanen and Mikko Myllylahti’s script is fable-like in its celebration of modest self-acceptance over straining ambition, of emotional rewards over the spoils of victory.”

Variety