The director's magisterial control over the proceedings makes something fresh and heartrending out of predictable material, particularly for older, thoughtful audiences.
Letters to Father Jacob(Postia pappi Jaakobille)
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Finland · 2009
1h 14m
Director Klaus Härö
Starring Kaarina Hazard, Heikki Nousiainen, Jukka Keinonen, Esko Roine
Genre Drama
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With few options, newly pardoned convict Leila agrees to work as an assistant to a blind pastor. Father Jacob spends his days answering the letters of the needy, which Leila finds pointless. But when the letters stop, the pastor is devastated and Leila finds herself cast in a new role.
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What are critics saying?
By the time Leila's brow furrows in concern for the father, the film has absolutely earned its tug at your heart.
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
Letters transforms a picture-postcard location and odd-couple narrative into a pretty, and pretty predictable, snooze. Yet the acting is flawless, the tone gentle and observational, and Leila's transformation, when it occurs, is unforced and unaccompanied by pious lecturing.
The Hollywood Reporter by Michael Rechtshaffen
The kind of film that makes a truly lasting impression despite its brevity.
There's only one thing worse than a leaden moral fable that tackles issues of forgiveness with sledgehammer contrivances, and that's one that attempts to mask its manipulative corniness with an air of trumped-up gravity.
Letters could be dismissed as a soap opera, but that would be unfair to this beautiful work. It features tender performances by Kaarina Hazard (Leila) and Jukka Keinonen (Jacob), as well as beautiful cinematography by Tuomo Hutri.
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