One of the more pleasant surprises of the 2023 Berlinale, where it premiered in the Encounters strand, Tia Kouvo’s feature debut Family Time has enjoyed plenty of success on the festival circuit (including a Best Feature Film prize at the Nordic Film Days in Lübeck) and in its native Finland, where it won the Jussi – the highest cinematic honor in the country – for Best Film, Director and Screenplay.
It is now bound to gain further exposure as the Finnish submission for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards, further confirming Kouvo as one of the bright promises of contemporary Nordic filmmaking. The young director has already earned her place among more seasoned colleagues.
Set and shot in the director’s hometown Lahti (about 100 kilometers north-east of Helsinki), Family Time centers around two grandparents, Ella and Lasse, and their children and grandchildren who come to visit them for Christmas. The tradition is not a happy one, though, as it rapidly emerges that Lasse’s alcohol consumption is a recurring problem, as is the daughters’ penchant for arguing over the most pointless things. Is it possible to break these patterns and restore some semblance of happiness within the family?
Prior to obtaining the funding for the feature-length version, Kouvo told the story in condensed format in a 2018 short film, also titled Family Time and featuring some of the same actors, most notably Leena Uotila and Tom Wentzel as the grandparents. Uotila, the nominal heart of the movie as far as the original Finnish title is concerned (Mummola, meaning “grandma’s house”), gives a quietly devastating performance as Ella, with full support from Wentzel who expertly conveys the tragically self-destructive side of Lasse’s personality.
Also vital to proceedings is the choice of locations, captured in mostly static shots that make the surroundings – a shed, a sauna, and more – as much of a character as the human participants. This is especially evident in the scenes set in Ella and Lasse’s house, which was the real-life domicile of Kouvo’s grandparents. Every room and piece of furniture serves a dramatic purpose, conveying the unity and dysfunction of the family, particularly in shots where the flesh-and-blood figures are not central, their role fulfilled mainly via audio.
While she doesn’t have the understated approach of Aki Kaurismäki when it comes to directing the cast, Kouvo shares his affinity for melancholy humor, blending light-heartedness with more tragic undertones to craft a true-to-life portrait of people trying to get by (and much like in Fallen Leaves, a supermarket does play a role in some of the drama). She also has a similar taste for music to underscore the peculiar mood of scenes, with a selection of songs that climaxes in a subtly touching use of the 1970s tune Mamy Blue.
It’s the ideal choice to highlight the timelessness of a film that harkens back to decades past (the director has cited Tokyo Story – incidentally, a Kaurismäki favorite – as an influence) but also maintains an unstated, contemporary urgency beneath the seemingly calm blocking of scenes, building an emotional crescendo that strikes with unhurried power.
Director, screenwriter: Tia Kouvo
Cast: Leena Uotila, Tom Wentzel, Elina Knihtilä, Ria Kataja, Jarkko Pajunen, Elli Paajanen
Producers: Jussi Rantamäki, Emilia Haukka, Fredrik Lange, Kristina Börjeson
Cinematography: Jesse Jalonen
Production Design: Nanna Hirvonen
Costume Design: Mirva Mietala
Music: Sveinung Nygaard
Sound: Jorma Kaulanen
Production companies: Aamu Film Company, Vilda Bomben Film AB, Film i Väst
World sales: The Match Factory
Venue: Berlinale (Encounters)
In Finnish
115 minutes