Tumman Veden Päällä is a Finnish foreign language film
following the story of Little Pete, a young boy growing up in small town Finland.
The film is directed by Peter Franzén and is based on his early life
experiences. Franzén initially published his story as a book in 2010 in a novel by the same title.
Tumman Veden Päällä tells an original story that many across
different cultural backgrounds can relate to.
The Finnish film touches on real world themes relating to early upbringing, childhood experiences and the importance of early life familial relationships.
The Finnish film touches on real world themes relating to early upbringing, childhood experiences and the importance of early life familial relationships.
Synopsis
Little Pete is a boy growing up in Northern Finland during
the 1970’s. He is a curious little guy who is always full of energy. He lives
in a small town with his mother, stepfather and sister. The most important
people in his life are his family, grandparents and neighbours.
His family is not your typical nuclear family. They go through their difficulties, argue and come to conflict regularly; but they seem to make it work.
His family is not your typical nuclear family. They go through their difficulties, argue and come to conflict regularly; but they seem to make it work.
As you can surmise, Little Pete’s family situation is not
the best, but it's all he knows.
At such a young age, Little Pete is just going on about his life while everything in the background is just noise. Like all kids he is impressionable, often gets distracted by small things, loves to adventure around and has an active imagination.
At such a young age, Little Pete is just going on about his life while everything in the background is just noise. Like all kids he is impressionable, often gets distracted by small things, loves to adventure around and has an active imagination.
Tumman Veden Päällä follows Little Pete as his family goes
through some hard times, depicting how he deals with it all. He can sense the
frustration of the adults around him, but again as a little lad he cannot quite
put all the pieces together.
The remainder of the film follows Little Pete as the
situation around him constantly changes. All of which cause a host of other
developments taking place in Little Pete’s life. Detailing big events in Peter Franzén’s
life during said period.
Important Themes
Tumman Veden Päällä depicts a dramatic story of a boy growing up
quickly in the 1970’s. Detailing important events Little Pete lived through as
a young boy. Making themes like survival, reality and maturity the meat and
potatoes of the film.
When it comes to Scandinavian films, most of the limelight
is shared between the Norwegians, Swedes and Danes. You usually hear about awesome
films coming out of Finland’s neighbours, but very rarely ever hear about
Finnish film. And even rarer, films telling original stories that are directed,
produced and written inside the country.
Scandinavian films often carry dark undertones and Tumman Veden Päällä is no different. However, it does tell a story more in-line with a child-like spirit of life in Lapland (Northern Finland) in the 70’s.
Scandinavian films often carry dark undertones and Tumman Veden Päällä is no different. However, it does tell a story more in-line with a child-like spirit of life in Lapland (Northern Finland) in the 70’s.
Life in Lapland is significantly different from life down in
Helsinki. Most notably because of the weather associated with being located far
closer to the arctic. Due to the location of Lapland, Finns hardly ever get any
sunlight in the winter.
But oddly enough, they get 24-hours of sunlight during the summer. Making for a phenomenon known as the midnight sun, which make for quite polar opposite seasonal experiences.
But oddly enough, they get 24-hours of sunlight during the summer. Making for a phenomenon known as the midnight sun, which make for quite polar opposite seasonal experiences.
Moreover, life in Lapland during the 70’s was quite
different when compared to now. Aside from having a rather embarrassing decade
of awful singing and dancing (don’t believe me, click here), oil crises during the decade had the nation’s economy in tatters.
Said crises put significant pressures on a country still facing troubles from
the post-war era. Leading to inflation rights sky rocketing across Finland.
Another interesting note is that despite being known as one
of the most active countries on earth at the time, Finland’s population was
known as the unhealthiest country on earth.
During the 70’s Finland held the world record for heart disease, as the average citizen would pretty much only eat fat-rich diets. Most likely in effort to fight off the cold weather.
Additionally, with the aforementioned economic restraints many families did not have much of a hefty budget for their pantries.
During the 70’s Finland held the world record for heart disease, as the average citizen would pretty much only eat fat-rich diets. Most likely in effort to fight off the cold weather.
Additionally, with the aforementioned economic restraints many families did not have much of a hefty budget for their pantries.
Tumman Veden Päällä details Little Pete’s life growing up in Finland
present with such nation-wide issues. Depicting how said problems, especially economic
ones, caused many more troubles for Finnish families across the country.
Conclusion
Overall, Tumman Veden Päällä is a good Scandinavian
drama. Different from a coming of age story, the film explores how life was
like in Lapland during the 1970’s through the eyes of a young boy. Detailing
all of the ups and downs his family had to endure while trying to grow into
himself.
Tumman Veden Päällä tells a story fit for an international
audience quite well. It has a relatable storyline, a good cast and touches on
some great themes revolving around family and childhood. Depicting a real story
on the beautiful and rough shores of wintery Finland.
Do not forget to add Tumman Veden Päällä to your watch
list. It may not be as flashy and fast-moving as some other foreign films. Instead,
it tells a family story of full of slow-burning emotion.
