Trench Road

Simply put, this is a movie about the identity crisis of a modern man. The concept, setup and quite a few details are interesting, but as a movie I don't think it quite delivers. Like some other Hotakainen's work, this can't easily be put in single genre and I think that's the biggest problem of this movie. Even at the end, you're not sure whether you were watching a comedy, thriller or a straightforward drama. The movie is directed with a nice flow, but the direction is very neutral, leaving you quite uneasy not knowing which turn the movie is going to take. I haven't read this specific book, but having read his other works I think Hotakainen's forte - warm satiric comedy - is not very well used here which makes this movie unnecessarily grim and drama-like.

Juoksuhaudantie is a nice movie, though it is very close to the book written by Finnish author Kari Hotakainen. The book won the biggest Finnish literature prize, Finlandia, in 2002. Though book and movie are very similar, they contain also some differences. The book contains much more humor and is more optimistic too. The main problem on the film is that the highlights of the book, which are due to the verbal acrobacy of Hotakainen, are impossible to translate to a movie. And the makers of the film have not managed to invent many new points which would render the loss of Hotakainen's best verbal insights. Though the film has its weaknesses, it is very fluently directed and pleasant to watch. No matter have you read the book or not.