Jättiläinen (The Mine) - (2016)

Jättiläinen 2016 film review

Jättiläinen is a Finnish foreign language film depicting a fictionalized story of the defamed Finnish mining company, Talvivaara.

The film focuses on the founding of the company and how the company dealt with several leaks which caused widespread environmental damage in Northern Finland.

Jättiläinen touches on many real world themes including environmental degradation, environmental protection policies and how large oil and natural gas corporations operate.



Synopsis




Jättiläinen follows it's main character Jussi, who works as an environmental policy officer for Talvivaara. After joining the company from the public sector, Jussi is promised by his co-workers that their work is 100% environmentally safe and that his role will be just as rewarding as a job with the government.

Jussi learns just how different working for a private company like Talvivaara is.

It certainly has it's pros and cons. However, over time he becomes aware of some unsettling information. Information that possibly incriminates the company on various ethical, economic and environmental fronts.

The remainder of the film follows Jussi as he continues to work for Talvivaara as the company deals with an array of internal issues over a span of years. Including many attempts to positively sway public interest in their favour.



Important Themes




Jättiläinen tells a fictionalized account of the rise and fall of the Talvivaara Mining Company. Because of this it's easy to directly relate the film's narrative to the real world. 

Talvivaara was founded in 2004 and acquired rights to mine sites in Eastern Finland soon after.

The company initially did well, producing substantial profits leading to the company being listed both on the London Stock Exchange in 2007 and the Helsinki Stock Exchanges in 2009.

Later in 2011, the company started to mine Uranium in their Eastern Finnish sites. This was a huge announcement for the company as estimates held that the company could alone be responsible for mining 80% of Finland's total amount of Uranium, which would have them rolling in cash.

However, all was not as squeaky clean as everything was promised.

From 2011 to 2014 Talvivaara mines suffered several leaks resulting in severe environmental damage and toxic poisoning of waterways (in some cases leaving large swathes of land inhabitable and their resources ruined).

In November of 2014, the company declared bankruptcy, changed it's name to Ahtium PLC and was left with €1.4 million debt outstanding.

And lastly, in 2017 a criminal court case against the company was re-opened as evidence resurfaced. Said case could leave the ex-CEO and many other high ranking employees with massive million dollar charges and time in jail.



Conclusion




All things stated, Jättiläinen is a tremendously smart and intriguing film. The film focuses on the real fall from grace of the Talvivaara Mining Company and speaks to many issues pertaining to the importance of environmental protectionism and transparency.

At times Jättiläinen is slow, but nonetheless entertaining. It gives you some insight into the actions behind a company behind an environmental disaster and all of the problems that come with it.

By all means give Jättiläinen a watch. It may not be as flashy or action packed of a foreign film, but it has great depth.

Ali Tamachi

Alik is a marketer and writer who creates compelling "chef's kiss" worthy marketing and advertising collateral. Outside of his professional setting he is a big film nerd, loves reading, running and doing digital art. Feel free to follow him on his journey from the links below.

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