Male. 19 years old. Finland. Currently NEET, but that will change soon (soon-to-be civil servant). Trying to apply to a university for translation studies (between English and Finnish at first).

I found Mondo Movie simply by googling for new film forums that I found interesting. My obsession with cinema begun about 5 years ago and slowly became a hobby. 3 years ago I took it seriously for the first time and I haven't given it up ever since. For 2 years I've been interested particularly in Japanese cinema and I've managed to gather a lot of knowledge of it although I still consider myself a mere amateur when it comes to that. My favorite Japanese directors come from all sorts of time. There are legendary directors like Ozu and Kurosawa, New Wave hipsters such as Teshigahara, anime directors (Anno, Yuasa, Hosoda etc) and contemporary directors including Koreeda and Aoyama. I have recently taken a liking for Meiko Kaji's 70's action films so you can expect me to indulge in Japanese exploitation sooner or later.

To be a bit more open-minded, here's a few non-Japanese filmmakers that I admire: Hsiao-hsien Hou, Ming-liang Tsai, Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tarkovsky, Chan-wook Park, Ingmar Bergman and Paul Thomas Anderson.

Let's see how it works out. Nice to meet all of you.

Greetings and salutations.

Welcome to the forum. Not sure if you've checked out the accompanying podcast, but it's the source of all this forum business and is unmissable - ask anyone on here.

I second that, the podcast is the easily the best film podcast around! Ben & Dan are legends in my eyes!

Ah. Now I have to change my mental image of you. In my mind, everyone looks like their avatar

Got any good Finnish genre picks to recommend (what is the state of cinema in Finland anyway?). Me and Phurious both recently enjoyed The White Reindeer from the 50s . . .

Yep, I'd like some more Finnish cinema tips as I'm only familiar with Kaurismaki stuff and the Finnish segment of Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth!

Finnish cinema outside Kaurismäki doesn't exist - unless you count those miserable comedies and booze-filled dramas that are never exported for a good reason. We barely make 10 films a year even though you could find enough crew and cast for 30+ films. And all of these films tend to be more or less terrible - to be avoided at all cost. Finnish cinema never flourished. Ever since the first films were made the industry has been preoccupied with making utterly simple crowd pleasers that were forgotten in a year or two.

Because of that I haven't even tried to watch Finnish films and I'm not too fond of Kaurismäki (have seen only The Man Without a Past so far) either. There is one name that I have seen come up once in a while and that is Matti Kassila. He made films in the 50's and 60's that are appreciated by the newest generation of Finnish film buffs. Risto Jarva's The Year of the Hare is also praised. That's where you should start.

Right now the best thing to come out of my dark homeland is Jalmari Helander's Rare Exports. Execution is surprisingly professional for a Finnish film - not to mention a debut from someone who learned the craft all by himself. It's a real laugh riot that pokes fun at corny Hollywood films while managing to be a proper Christmas film.

I'm not sure if I should count him or not, but Klaus Härö is the biggest name related to Finland at the moment. He is a Finnish Swede or Swedish Finn (I never remember which way around it was). His films share a sentimental tone that I admire. Mother of Mine and Letters to Father Jacob gained popularity around the world in film festivals and the latter is probably his best film so far. Elina: As If I Wasn't There is a solid film as well.

Some names to explore there - cheers!

I'm looking forward to Rare Exports - enjoyed the two shorts that came before it - as you say, techincally very impressive, the director clearly has a eye for rich visuals. I loved the sequence with the Santa do's and dont's, distracting him with ginger biscuits etc . . .

I saw Rare Exports at the Frightfest Halloween special and really enjoyed it. I think it was a lot of people's fave of the evening.

I've got a load of Kaurismaki films, but I haven't ever got round to watching them - will sort this out after the 70MC.

I think Year of the Hare is an adaptation isn't it? I vaguely remember seeing the book when I used to work at Waterstone's and wondered what it was about (obviously I was too bone idle to pick it up and read the blurb).

Klaus Haro sounds interesting. I look forward to unearthing some of his stuff.

^ I'm genuinely surprised that someone outside Finland recognized The Year of the Hare. It is one of the more obscure classics of Finnish literature.