Hella W - worth watching ?

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:30 pm

Has anybody seen Hella W ? Trailer with English subtitles here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MHFXL59N0k

Is it worth seeing or not ? I noticed that it is only 1 hour and 22 minutes long.

Info in English on the film : http://www.snapperfilms.fi/en/tuotannot/hellaw/

**Sponsor:**

EP · Post by EP » Wed Feb 16, 2011 3:46 pm

Interesting subject but the two reviews I have read have both been only short way from crushing.

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 3:58 pm

If you understand Swedish or Finnish you should read "Kontraspion för fem nationer" ( Counter-spy for five nations ) by Otto Kumenius:
http://www.librarything.com/work/4627873

In Finnish the book is called "Viiden rintaman vastavakoilija" :
http://www.antikvaari.fi/naytatuote.asp?id=648714

Your local library may have it. I found it both interesting and entertaining but also horrible.The times were cruel. Russian spies who were caught were executed.I can of course not guarantee that Kumenius tells everything as it happened.

EP · Post by EP » Wed Feb 16, 2011 4:30 pm

I will check it out next time I go to the library. Didn´t Erkki Tuomioja write Wuolijoki´s biography just a couple of years ago? I have not read that either. Isn´t she his grandmother?

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:19 pm

EP wrote:I will check it out next time I go to the library. Didn´t Erkki Tuomioja write Wuolijoki´s biography just a couple of years ago? I have not read that either. Isn´t she his grandmother?

Yes, she was Erkki Tuomioja´s grandmother. See the text under "Family" on this page ! :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hella_Wuolijoki

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:58 pm

EP wrote:Interesting subject but the two reviews I have read have both been only short way from crushing.

I suspect that the film has a very thin story. Many Finnish films have that problem. Perhaps they should have asked Anthony Horowitz to write the script :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Horowitz

Horowitz is the man behind the excellent "Foyle´s War" :
http://www.foyleswar.com/

kalmisto · Post by **kalmisto** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 8:08 pm

I was right about the wonky story in Hella W.

"Biographical film Hella W slumps down under its own weight" :
http://dome.fi/elokuvat/arvostelut/arvo ... nonsa-alle

Perhaps Outi Nyytäjä should have watched "Julia" ( from the year 1977 ) before she wrote the screenplay to "Hella W" :
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076245/usercomments

Everybody should see "Julia"! At least twice !

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