MUSTA JÄA (Competition)
FIN/DEU 2007
100 min
Director: Petri Kotwican
Cast: Outi Mäenpää, Ria Kataja, Martti Suosala, Ville Virtanen, Sara Paavolainen
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Less brilliant is the Finnish contribution in competition: Musta Jaä/ Black Ice unintentionally comical sometimes. The film is focussing on the invisible mazes in love and the classical ménage a trois story. When a man loves two woman and two women love the same man. But as the women build up a friendship things become not only complicated but deeply painful. So far a seductive and thrilling plot. Leo doesn’t know that his wife Sara does know and would never imagine his wife to creep in in Tuulis and Leos lover life manipulating their relationship and becoming friend with Tuuli his architecture student. The film starts dynamically, soaked in various shades of blue of a cold and melancholic winter landscape. But there is this feeling that something is not working, not reliable. Especially because the characters remain some drafts and close to the end things go far beyond. Especially when director Petri Kotwica starts playing games with the expectations of his audience, trying to catalyze his story with too preconceived thrilling elements of suspense. It seems he didn’t know where to end losing himself a bit along the road. Peccato! A moral story in which neither can live while the other stays alive.