neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Cuckoo
	Aleksandr Rogozhkin Anni-Kristiina Juuso, Ville Haapasalo, Viktor Bychkov, Mikhail Korobochkin, Alexei Kashnikov 2002		As anti-war films go, "The Cuckoo" is less a screed and more a quirky fable laced with magical realism. It's a modest little gem about the value of communication and the difficulties that arise between people who could find common ground but are hampered by their different cultures and tongues. Written and directed by Russian filmmaker Aleksandr Rogozhkin, "The Cuckoo" introduces two reluctant soldiers at the tail end of World War II: Veikko (Ville Haapasalo), an optimistic Finnish intellectual forced into the German army against his will, and Ivan (Viktor Bychkov), a fatalistic Russian facing accusations of treason for imprudent statements. Abandoned by his unit, Veikko is literally chained to a rock in the wilderness until he escapes. Ivan survives a bombing that kills the officers taking him to trial. Both men end up in the care of Anni (Anni-Kristiina Juuso), a young, attractive, pragmatic Lapp widow living a solo rural life in a hut by the water. Although the language barrier creates tension between the men, Anni is drawn to pacifistic Veikko as well as paranoid Ivan. It's a curious, amusing romantic triangle, made all the more bizarre by the misconceptions that plague the trio.