Tedfoldol
everything you have heard about this movie is true.
Odelecol
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Guillelmina
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
antti_kinnunen
This film is like the French film "French Blood" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4168502/ The acting is very professional, straight forward and not over acted which happens in lots of films with violence. Both of these films shows what happens when there is too much of energy, anger and no thoughts how to live life as human until something happens that makes the changes. The film shows well the conflict that arises after one has had enough of all that idiotic ideology and how difficult it is to break the old ways, they keep haunting in the background all the time. Both films are extremely good drama and I would say these are a must to watch especially for all those who think they have all the answers but no idea what to do.
Rayniack
This movie is so hard to watch, because it is so detached from reality even though it tries to portray itself as a serious movie. This review might have minor spoilers. It is the ultimate political correct movie and try to nationalistic conservatives as the ultimate losers and of course maturity makes you become a liberal.There a gang of "patriots" who are complete dumbnuts with s*it for brains who of course try to make up excuses to attack poor foreign men, who never could do any harm. The protagonist falls in love with a woman who has a black child. The black kid is a poor victim of racist attack by racist Finnish kids who bully him and makes his "new patriot father" seem like a racist which escalates to almost fatal consequences.The 'patriots' of course would never accept a half-black child and he could never show it to them and does his best to hide it from them. The black kid also gets into trouble because of standing up for himself against bullies in school and this leads into our protagonist also getting trouble with the teachers and other parents in school.The movie is indeed quite interesting, but it is the ultimate movie in brainwashing and therefore would not recommend it to younger audience who probably could not see the blatant political ideology it is forcing down your throat. It portrays Finns with patriotic views as completely dumb-nuts and of course most of our characters (i.e school mates and teachers) are of course also very racist and therefore against his son. The main teaching of this movie is to better become a liberal, since if you uphold the view that Europe are for Europeans you would probably be best of killing yourself!
pontus-randen
OK. I must admit: I have not seen to many Finnish movies. But the few that I have seen has been either really boring or, if it is a comedy, really boring.But this one. WOW! Nothing short of stunning, with great performances all over. Not just from Peter Franzén but also from the rest of the crew, the Nazi fellows not the least. Jasper Pääkkönen (try saying that name really fast ten times) playing the brother in the film is equally good.The movie has a message. But it is not made "down your throat". Just as the Nazis in the movie are acting stupid, so is the black father and the gypsies. So lots of people with different colored skin and different backgrounds, acting stupid. Not just one part. As often in the real world.Makes me wonder if there are more good Finnish movies. At least this one gives me a certain hope that there might be. Or at least some to come.
Anssi Vartiainen
I had honestly given up hope of ever seeing a truly good Finnish film. Finnish filmmakers seemed to have this peculiar depressive streak a mile wide and every film I watched was either painfully banal comedy or a dark drama about the cruelty of life. And then I saw this film.Leijonasydän by Dome Karukoski is the best Finnish film I've personally ever seen. It has the capacity of emotion, the sheer skill and the story to stand side by side with the best international films out there. And the reasons for this excellence are the reasons why most films succeed: excellent characters and a great story. And it's not that the story itself is all that unpredictable or new. The film is about a Neo-Nazi that is forced to live with his new girlfriend's son. A son, whose father just happens to be of African descent. You can probably figure out how the story will pan out just from that. It's the execution here, the way the story is told and how well the actors do their jobs, that pulls the movie through.And those aforementioned actors are all very skilled. Peter Franzén and Jasper Pääkkönen both do a credible job of portraying two brothers, who both happen to believe in white power. Yet they're not treated unsympathetically. Their actions are condemned, sure, but the film also goes to great lengths to show them not as monster, but as people who believe in wrong things. They both show capability for regret, sympathy and even love, despite their upbringing. Great depth of emotion and humanity.Laura Birn and Yusufa Sidibeh also shine as mother and son. Finland still doesn't get all that many immigrants, so people of foreign descent are still something of an oddity here. Thus it's great to see films like this one that treat the fact like it's supposed to be: a family, no matter their respective skin colour.As far criticism goes, I only have a couple of nitpicks. Like how the ending could have gone on for a bit longer, or how Birn's character gets suddenly removed for a part of the film, but these are more matters of taste rather than real flaws in the film.Leijonasydän is a great film. It believes in humanity, has incredible role performances and is just all around heartwarming to watch. Highly recommended for all.