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Information
- Year
- 1999
- Runtime
- 78 min.
- Director
- Aki Kaurismäki
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Comedy
- Rating *
- 7.0
- Votes *
- 1,579
- Checks
- 281
- Favs
- 12
- Dislikes
- 4
- Favs/checks
- 4.3% (1:23)
- Favs/dislikes
- 3:1
Top comments
-
CinemaDump
Aki Kaurismäki is a Finnish director who is a master at dry humour. I saw his Finland trilogy a few years ago and loved it. With Juha, Kaurismäki is trying something a little different. It's a black and white silent film that uses intertitles to get the dialogue across. It's based on a novel by Finnish author Juhani Aho and it has already been adapted three times before. What's funny is that the reason why Kaurismäki decided to make this adaptation a silent film is because of actor André Wilms' inability to speak Finnish.
Juha is the story of a farming couple living in the country. Their lives are extremely simple but both appear to be content. Marja loves her husband Juha despite his lame leg and contributes as much as she can to keep things running smoothly on the farm. One day, a man from the city named Shemeikka shows up and needs help to repair his broken down Corvette. While Juha is busy doing what's necessary to help him out, Shemeikka puts the moves on Marja and convinces her that she could do better. He puts it in her head that she should come to the city with him and leave the farming life far behind.
The movie is set during the 1970's but Juha and Marja look like they're living in the 50's if not earlier. Despite the fact that they seem to be behind the times, they're still happy. With Shemeikka's arrival it brings a whole lot of changes but also brings into question if these changes really benefit anyone. Marja becomes enamored with city life and conveniences and the once content couple become isolated from one another. This is definitely some worthwhile and expected commentary from Kaurismäki.
For a silent movie to work, the music has to be top notch to keep things interesting. I'd say that Anssi Tikanmäki has succeeded in doing that. The score goes from being whimsical to sad and depressing throughout. Although there are a few sound effects here and there, the music is the primary sound that Juha has and it guides the story along perfectly.
Talkies and silent movies have different kinds of acting and Juha gets silent movie acting done right. There is however some modern sensibility in the way that the acting is not too exaggerated. When movies were still quite new and without sound, looking at a silent movie now can look like people playing charades but that isn't the case with Juha. I especially like André Wilms in his role and can see why Kaurismäki really wanted him as Shemeikka.
Kaurismäki has created a visually pleasing film with Juha. Even without colour, everything appears to be rich in detail and depth. The lighting is also a pretty big strength as well. In short, the mise-en-scène is well executed although that's no surprise really.
People these days seem to take a very hard stance against silent films. Every movie deserves a chance whether it's a talkie or a silent film though. Juha is the perfect movie to show these no silent film types the kind of power a silent film can have. I think that Juha has a few modern touches here and there that can ease anti-silent filmites into the genre. The Artist is still my favourite of the modern silent films that I've seen but Juha is a movie definitely worth watching.
7/10 9 years 11 months ago -
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