The Home of Dark Butterflies ( Tummien perhosten koti )

The Home of Dark Butterflies (DVD) (*)

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Original Title: Tummien perhosten koti
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
Finnish ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
Finnish ( Subtitles )
Swedish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Finland ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
105 min

Aspect Ratio:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Biographies
Commentary
Featurette
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 2008 and produced in:
Finland ( Scandinavia, Iceland )

Directed By:
Dome Karukoski

Written By:
Leena Lander
Marko Leino

Actors:
Niilo Syväoja ..... Juhani Johansson
Tommi Korpela ..... Olavi Harjula
Kristiina Halttu ..... Irene Harjula
Kati Outinen ..... Tyyne
Pertti Sveholm ..... Erik Johansson
Matleena Kuusniemi ..... Maire Johansson
Eero Milonoff ..... Salmi
Marjut Maristo ..... Vanamo Harjula
Roope Karisto ..... Sjöblom
Ville Saksela ..... Rinne
Niko Vakkuri ..... Hermanni Hämäläinen
Iiro Panula ..... Sulkava
Henri Huttunen ..... Simola
Heikki Nousiainen ..... Sosiaalijohtaja Rantala
Matti Onnismaa ..... Viranomainen

Synopsis:

Juhani, 14 years old, is haunted and oppressed by a traumatic childhood experience. After being bounced between foster homes and temporary families for six years, Juhani ends up in a Boys' Home, The Island. The place is run under the laws and regulations of the superintendent, Olavi Harjula, who is ruthless in his administration. Besides the seven boys and Harjula, the only other inhabitants of the Island are the superintendent's wife Irene and their two daughters, along with Tyyne, who's in charge of the livestock and the catering. The isolated community is a world of its own.

Fourteen-year-old Juhani is haunted and oppressed by a traumatic childhood experience. After being bounced between foster homes and temporary families for six years, Juhani ends up in a Boys' Home called The Island. The place is run under the laws and regulations of superintendent Olavi Harjua, who is ruthless in his administration. Besides the seven boys and Harjula, the only other inhabitants of the Island are the superintendent's wife Irene and their two daughters, along with Tyyne who's in charge of the livestock and the catering. The isolated community is a world of its own.

Considered a 'hopeless case,' though he seems merely misunderstood, 14-year-old Juhani (Niilo Syvaoja, who looks closer to 18) has gone through many a foster home since he purportedly killed a baby sibling as a child. Now he's given a last chance under the tough-love regime of Olavi Harjula (Tommi Korpela), who announces, 'I am God and this is my kingdom' upon welcoming the newbie to 'the Island.'There, a half-dozen similarly problematic teen boys have already settled into the regime of manual labor and school. Money is already scarce, but when a government inspector announces the program is being defunded entirely, the obsessed Olavi refuses to give up -- as do the boys. (One major logic gap here is that from what we see, these young men might indeed be better off elsewhere; helmer Dome Karukoski and adapter Marko Leino never convey what is special, or even particularly successful, about Olavi's notions of juvenile rehab.) He seizes on an unlikely plan to grow silkworms for profit, something never been done before in this far-north climate. As that pipe dream is put into precarious motion, other dramas percolate. Olavi's unhappy wife (Kristiina Halttu) commences an affair with brawny student Salmi (Eero Milonoff). Juhani creates sparks of his own with Olavi's daughter Vanamo (Marjut Maristo) when she's not attending school on the mainland. Meanwhile, he gets a visit from his untrustworthy father (Pertti Sveholm) and has nightmarish flashbacks that finally illuminate the truth of his traumatized childhood. With murder, suicide, and various other past and present crises piling up toward the end, 'Butterflies' can't avoid veering into melodramatic excess. There's a nagging feeling that everything here made psychological sense and cleaved to a neat narrative arc as literature, but condensing Lander's material and juggling its disparate tones overwhelmed the filmmakers. Result is always watchable, but seldom fully credible or emotionally satisfying. Thesps do their best under the circumstances.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 14 December, 2009.

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