THE CUCKOO (KUKUSHKA) European Showcase

Writer/director Alexander Rogozhkin’s 1998 film CHECKPOINT examined the banality and treachery of war. Now, he has produced an exquisitely tuned look at the misunderstandings among three people – a Russian, a Finn and a Lapp, none of whom speak each other’s language.

It is September 1944, the month in which Finland was forced to sign an armistice conceding certain territories to the invading Soviet troops. As the film begins, Veiko, a Finn, is chained to a stone in his SS uniform by Germon soldiers so that the Russians will finish him off. After cleverly escaping, he falls on the mercy of the young Lapp peasant, Anni. She is taking care of lvan, an intense Russian, who is recovering from a concussion. Although the Finn’s uniform convinces Ivan that Veiko is an unrepentant fascist, Veiko tries to site Dostoevsky and Tolstoy to explain his anti-war position.

All three actors are utterly delightful to watch delivering exquisitely timed, finely-nuanced performances. THE CUCKOO distills the large-scale movements of history into the quirks and foibles of three individuals in an intimate, alert and humorous anti-war film.