Elämältä kaiken sain

Accompanied by her male friend and his daughter, Tiina (Armi Toivanen) returns to her childhood home to meet her father. It turns out, however, that the demented father (Vesa-Matti Loiri) needs someone to take care of him, as does the dilapidated house. Tiina becomes her father's caregiver, and the blended family settles down to live in the archipelago villa in the shade of apple trees. The summer spent in renovating the house brings out the shadows of the past. In addition to hot water pipes, cracks appear in the family idyll and relationship. The house turns into a metaphor of its inhabitants. Some of the cracks are best left untouched and accepted as they are. Throughout the film, Mika Kaurismäki's directorial grasp maintains a small mischievous grin. He treats the characters with warmth and understanding, while not disguising their weaknesses. The archipelago creates a breath-taking setting for Bergmanian family psychology and the altar of the enigma of life, where also Saarikoski, Jarmusch and Zarathustra meet. (JR) (Midnight Sun Film Festival)