Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

M A This man's job is even more burdensome as it may appear. It extends beyond giving up a man's pride and dealing with a pool of unattractive and unconventional clientele. It takes him even more to protect his loved one, to an extent that he accepts a child not of his own, conceals his anger towards a man who sleeps with and impregnates his wife, hides his worries of losing his job and changing his "career" from his wife to protect her from aggravated depression. This is the courage and conviction of a person who sacrifices himself to protect and please his loved one. A hilarious and entertaining film which is romantic at its heart, with a bleak ending showing the harsh reality that well-meaning sacrifice is not always reciprocated and the poor often gets poorer. Although the ending shoot in the ambulance is sweet, what happens to the family afterwards is probably less so.

The Emperor's Bride Juha (Tommi Korpela) is the middle-aged father of two and the husband of a depressed wife. Too afraid to tell his depressed wife that he has lost his job as a construction worker, Juha tries to make a living by offering his services to private customers, with little success. When he's contacted by a slightly older woman who turns out to want more than just the reconstruction of her living room, Juha secretly joins the sex industry in to be able to support his family. This provides the setting for a story about the responsibilities of a family man and shame.Movies about the sex industry tend to fall into four main categories. There are moralistic tales about the depravity and dangers of the industry, exploitative movies that use the theme as an easy excuse for excessive nudity, light-hearted comedies about the liberation and empowerment through open sexuality, and realistic stories about the cruel and abusive nature of prostitution. Strangely enough, Miehen Työ doesn't really fit into any of these categories. On the contrary of what one might think after reading the summary, it's a remarkably un-erotic film. The theme of male prostitution isn't the focus of the film, but a mere extension to the net of lies Juha spins when he tries to hide his family the fact that he's unemployed. This story isn't about sex - it's about humiliation and shame that stems from Juha's failure to do what he believes is expected of him. What's a man to do when he can't even do his duty? Ultimately, the movie becomes a study of the roles of a man - or the job of a man, as the title puts it. Is it really more important for a good husband and a father to keep the money coming than to actually be there for his family when they need him the most? Overall, Miehen Työ is a bleak, bleak movie about the harsh reality of everyday life. It isn't light-hearted entertainment, but I personally enjoyed it. Tommi Korpela is fantastic in the lead role, portraying the everyman who paradoxically degrades himself to preserve his pride. I also liked Jani Volanen as Juha's troubled best friend Olli, who discreetly tries to replace Juha by spending time with his family when Juha himself is gone.

writers_reign On the face of it this is every schoolboy fantasy in the world - to have women eager to pay you for sex. Of course those schoolboys think in terms of their peers rather than older dysfunctional women, indeed to a schoolboy 25 is 'old' so that they would quickly become disabused by the lineup here, which includes a victim of Downs' Syndrome who is also the youngest 'client' on display. If none of the women are actually ugly and some not even plain there is still a moral question which must be addressed. Juhe is both husband and father as well as being jobless and stumbles into his new 'profession' by chance although having done so he takes to it like a duck to water. The film is well made and largely sympathetic and unerotic but the question remains is this a job for a nice Finnish boy and the answer must be no.

christopher-underwood At the time of writing IMDb advise that the UK title for this film is, 'A Man's Work' but it was shown as, 'A Man's Job' at its London Film Festival screening yesterday, which I would have thought was a better title. As for the film itself, it is rather difficult to enjoy because of all the unhappiness on display. It is an insightful and compassionate piece of work but hard to get very close to those involved. Finland sits twixt Scandinavia and the old Soviet block and have until the first world war been first part of Sweden and then Russia. We consider Scandinavians to be prone to depression, perhaps because of the cold and darkness and maybe Finns suffer more because of the added element of schizophrenia. Anyway, everybody here seems dysfunctional and when you discover that the film tells of its main character getting involved in offering services to older ladies and even a Down's syndrome sufferer, things don't get much more cheery. Its well done and for the most part, almost convincing but it is badly let down by the ending. I assume that this is intended as a happy ending and perhaps to the Finns it is but to me and my fellow, stunned into silence, cinema goers, it seemed a desperately sad end indeed.