''Homebound'' () is a 1989 Finnish

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Ilkka Järvi-Laturi Ilkka Untamo Järvi-Laturi (28 November 1961 – 5 March 2023) was a Finnish-born US-based film director whose best known film was ''Spy Games'' (1999) starring Bill Pullman and Irene Jacob. The film was shot in Helsinki, New York (state), New Y ...

. It tells the story of a young student who moves away from his hometown to the capital to study, as he worries about his mother's problematic relationship with a new husband. The film is starring by

Ilkka Koivula Ilkka Koivula (born 16 March 1966) is a Finnish actor. He has appeared in 28 films and television shows since 1988. He starred in the film '' Lights in the Dusk'', which was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Selected filmography * '' H ...

and

Jonna Järnefelt Irja Johanna "Jonna" Järnefelt (born 3 October 1964) is a Finnish actress and singer. Career Järnefelt entered the Helsinki Theatre Academy right from high school in 1983. There, she began studying in the dance line. In her own words, a career ...

. The film was Järvi-Laturi's first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

. According to Järvi-Laturi, he was inspired by the 1986 news headline of ''

Ilta-Sanomat is one of Finland's two prominent tabloid-size evening newspapers and the largest paper in the country. Its counterpart and biggest rival is '' Iltalehti''. According to the National Media Research done in 2019, ''Ilta-Sanomat'' is also the bi ...

'': "The death of the one thrown into the sea was the revenge of the underworld". The news piqued his interest because it gave the impression of

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

Plot summary

Year 1986 in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

, Finland. Elli Nyman marries Kauko Kurkela, convicted of murder, in the prison chapel, but Elli's son Mika Uurassalmi does not like his new stepfather. Mika is about to go to

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

to study at the

University of Technology An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

, and Elli is buying an apartment for her son in the

Merihaka Merihaka () is a coastal residential area in central Helsinki, Finland consisting of large high-rise concrete housing blocks. It is located by the Baltic Sea next to districts of Hakaniemi, Kallio and Sörnäinen. It is known for its tall, grey ...

district. By chance, Mika meets his old schoolmate Ulla in Helsinki, who has come to work in the capital. After a reserved beginning, a romantic relationship develops between the young people. However, Kurkela's possible tendency to engage in intimate

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

causes Mika's everyday life to be disrupted and he has to worry about the well-being of his mother in his childhood home, as well as his own future in the capital with his studies and Ulla.

Cast

as Mika Uurassalmi *

as Ulla * as Elli Kurkela, née Nyman * Risto Tuorila as Kauko Kurkela

Reception

''Homebound'' received mixed reviews when it was released. Its factuality was criticized, even though the story did not exactly follow the events that inspired it.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' found the film "sordid and solidly unglamorous, the acting performances more opaque than the situation warrants and the ending surprising but an unrevealing one."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0097682 1989 crime films 1989 drama films 1980s Finnish-language films 1980s Finnish films Films set in Helsinki Finnish crime films Finnish drama films