An intense movie, shot from a blind man’s perspective. An atypical action/thriller film about a man who has to go through hell to reach his loved one.
Jaakko is blind and disabled, tethered to his wheelchair. He loves Sirpa. Living far away, they have never met in person, but they meet every day over the phone.
When Sirpa, played by Marjaana Maijala, is overwhelmed by shocking news, Jaakko decides to go to her immediately, despite his condition. In any case, he just needs to rely on the help of five strangers in five places: from home to taxi, from taxi to station, from station to train, from train to taxi and finally from taxi to… her.
Oh, my goodness. This film is at turns joyful and sad. I reveled in the fact that Jaakko and Sirpa found each other. They have delightful chats, in between visits to Jaakko from his caregiver and calls from his doting father, who is concerned about his welfare.
When he hatches a plan to see his girlfriend in another part of Finland that’s a ways off, he doesn’t tell anyone.
On his way, he does well with the kindness of strangers, until he runs into some thugs who rob him. But fate isn’t all bad news for Jaakko, as a man stumbles upon his aching, agony filled body sprawled on the floor in the train station—after he tries to maneuver when the thugs finally let him go.
Blockbuster Hollywood films play a central theme in this award-winning film; throughout the film, nearly every other sentence from Jaakko is a dry-wit joking movie reference. He refers to Sirpa as Sigourney Weaver from “The Alien,” and he as the alien. He tells the thugs that they remind him of the bad guys from “Fargo,” as he’s wearing an “Escape From New York” t-shirt. It’s established early on in the film that he has an off-putting relationship with director James Cameron, as noted in the film’s title. He’s proud in his claim that he’s never seen “Titanic.”
Check it out if you can. It’s a great film, shown through the eyes of someone who’s visually challenged.
“In his fifth feature film, the self-educated, award-winning Finnish director Teemu Nikki shows huge cool and perspicacity in choosing an actor who is actually blind and suffering from MS…in the main role [Petri] Poikolainen is simply excellent, witty, and good-humored, holding attention scene after scene with his courageous decision to leave his home and embark on a journey representing freedom to him.” –The Film Verdict.
Nikki told the Orizzonti Extra in Venice, Italy, “We didn’t make a film about a handicapped person; we made a film about a person who also happens to be disabled.”
Take a look at the trailer: https://youtu.be/Z8KrFWXQOUo.
“The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic” begins in select U.S. theaters on February 3. Find all theaters at this link https://linktr.ee/blindmantitanicmovie.
