Cheap The Cuckoo (DVD) (Anni-Kristiina Juuso, Ville Haapasalo, Viktor Bychkov) (Aleksandr Rogozhkin) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Cuckoo

At the edge of the world, at the end of the war
WWII. Lapland. The last days of the hostilities between Finland and Russia. A Finnish sniper, Veiko, who for some unknown reason is wearing an SS uniform, is chained to a rock and left to die. For several days we follow his ingenious attempts to free himself from his chains. Meanwhile, a Russian soldier, Kartuzov, is being held by the Russian military police, awaiting trial. They both eventually escape their respective predicaments and end up in the remote farm of a Sami woman, Anni, whose husband has left four years earlier to go to war and has apparently been killed.

Once they reach the farm, they settle in with Anni and an interesting triangle develops. The Finn is a friendly pacifist, the Russian is suspicious and hostile and the Sami woman has no interest in the war at all. The Finn is also decidedly more attractive than the Russian, a point that is not lost on Anni. The relationships that develop have to do with a lot more than just their political viewpoints.

Anni speaks only Sami; Veiko - Finnish and some German; Kartuzov only Russian. They make no attempt to communicate by other means, such as pointing at objects or using facial expressions and gestures. They just continue to engage in monologues in their own language, even though it is clear the others cannot understand what they're saying. Only the viewers know what is said, as it is all accompanied by English subtitles. I found this three sided monologue quite irritating at first. After a while, the comedic aspect of this lttle tower of Babel grew on me. It served to enhance the anti-war message of the film, as it showed how human relationships developed between the three despite the lack of verbal communication and despite the Russian's hostility and mistrust.

All three actors are excellent. Veiko is played by the Finnish actor Haapasalo, Kartuzo by the Russian Bychkov. But the star of this movie in my mind is Anni, played by Anni-Christina Juuso - beautiful, impish, strong, happy, full of life, cute and confident.

The first part of the film is somewhat tedious. It was hard to understand who's who and what's going on, and the sniper's struggle to free himself from his chains dragged on and on. As the film progressed, I grew more and more entranced with Anni and intrigued by the whole story. It is set in a beautiful environment and beautifully shot. Towards the end there is a particularly striking scene depicting a magical and surrealistic journey.

Highly recommended.

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What a neat little soft-spoken comedy
A neat little Rusiian film that takes place in September of 1944, a few days before Finland dropped out of WWII, about a Finnish soldier (Veikko) dressed as a SS officer who was chained to a rock by Germans and left to die, a Russian soldier (Ivan) who is being taken to be court-martialed by his troops when a overpassing war plane kills everyone but him, and the Lapp woman (Anni) who finds both of them and takes them in.
Anni lives a simple life, living out of a hovel on the water and catching fish to survive. Her husband has been dead for years, so having these two men in her home, even if no one speaks a word of each other's language, is still a bonus for her. And therein lies the crux of the humor here. All three of these characters are total chatterboxes, yet no one understands a word anyone else is saying. It makes for some unexpectedly laugh-out-loud situations, and as the film plays out the characters become very well-defined and we see that language is clearly not the only impenetrable barrier between these three.
The first half hour of this film is just set-up, as we get introductions to the three characters and their dilemmas. Not much funny going on. But once they meet, it all becomes very enjoyable, and even a well-filmed but somewhat morbid scene with Anni calling one of them back from the "paths of the dead" doesn't change the pace, so much as it gives Anni a greater depth for us.

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An extraordinary delightful cinematic experience...
At the end of World War II when the Nazis were leaving occupied Finland, Veikko, young Finnish soldier, is chained to a rock. Veikko struggles resiliently to get free from his chains as he knows that his life depends on it. After a long struggle with the rock he is finally free and he stumbles across the home of Anni, a Lapp, who is sheltering a Soviet soldier, Ivan, that has been injured from an attack. Ivan attempts to kill Veikko as he thinks he is a murderous fascist, however, Ivan fails in his slaying of Veikko. This is the beginning for a friendship among the three as Anni provides a sanctuary for both men. However, this sets up several misinterpretations and assumptions as none of them speak the same language. Cuckoo is a warm and funny drama that keeps the audience smiling and feeling the pain and happiness of each character as they regain some hope after a long and cruel war. This sets up a delightful and extraordinary cinematic experience that will keep the audience cheerful.