Directed by Aku Louhimies
Starring Amanda Pilke, Laura Birn, Sean Pertwee, Deogracias Masomi, Jasper Pääkkönen, Taneli Mäkelä

 Vuosaari or Naked Harbour as it is internationally known is part of what could be called "the misery series" from director Louhimies. The film tells intertwining stories of bunch of characters and in part deals with cancer and it has been said that this is because Louhimies himself is a cancer survivor and the film was his way of letting out feelings concerning the experience.

 Naked Horbour will likely feel fresh and beautiful to foreingers not familiar with Finnish cinema but for me, it was everything I expected it to be and that exactly is the problem. It seems that Finnish film can only be considered art if at some point there are naked men running outdoors while possibly even yelling "perkele!" (equivalent to "goddamn it") and everyone's fucking each other because they are emotionally numb. Well boo-fucking-hoo. This is the kind of shit you'd expect from a by-the-numbers teen soap opera! Except minus the fat guys running naked outdoors. Maybe.

 The characters are all in misery, nothing feels redeeming and life just keeps kicking them in the head. One might call this art but when every serious Finnish drama deals with the exact same issues in the exact same mood and fashion, it gets old real fucking quick. Are we not capable of truly creating something new emotionally and visually? Paha Maa (Frozen Land), the film in the series Louhimies did before is far better in every way. It too handles the same subject matters but at least the idea was semi-fresh at the time. Naked Harbour is a remake on an emotional level but offers nothing new. The phrase nothing new also includes yet another interracial storyline offering a black man with a white woman. Is it racist to have those roles reversed or why is it that we aren't seeing it in cinema? Anywhere? Or is this perhaps a case of "positive racism"?

SINIVALKOISILLE
Vuosaari on elokuva joka tuntuu jakavan ihmisten mielipiteet. Toisten mielestä se on koskettava tarina surullisista ihmiskohtaloista kun taas toiset pitävät sitä vain yhtenä väsyneenä kurjuusdraamana muiden kotimaisten draamojen joukossa. Itse kuulun jälkimmäiseen joukkoon. Elokuvan suurin ongelma on ettei se edistä kotimaisen draaman kerronnan kasvua millään tavalla. Louhimies itsekin on tehnyt samanlaisen toisiinsa kietoutuvien kohtaloiden draaman jo paremmin filmillä Paha Maa, eikä Vuosaari tuo mixiin mitään uutta henkisesti eikä visuaalisesti vaan jää eräänlaiseksi Pahan Maan emotionaaliseksi uusintaversioksi. Molemmat totta kai tapahtuvat vielä talvella, sillä mehän ollaa talven kaamoksessa niin henkisesti riutuvaa kansaa ja sen sellaista paskaa. Turhauttava leffa. Ja kuten otin asian jo aiemmin esille Iron Skyn arvostelussa, niin tässäkin on jo kliseisesti musta mies valkoisen naisen kanssa. Onko se todella jollain tapaa rasistista tai poliittisesti epäkorrektia kääntää asetelma toisin päin? Ihan oikeasti? Rehellisesti, montako leffaa muistatte jossa parinmuodostus olisi toisinpäin? Pieni seikka, mutta hyvä pointti mielestäni, vai onko se kenties sitä "positiivista rasismia"?

Vuosaari at IMDb