A Finnish couple announce their decision to divorce. It is early spring in Helsinki. Narrated in a voice-over by a neighbour, the work presents three dramatic moments in this process: It begins with a session with their therapist, followed by the couple celebrating a birthday with their friends that ends with the whole group drowning in a frozen lake. The camera angle and perspective change to parallel the shift of the narrative. An underwater monologue contemplates the past and death. The film concludes in a final relinquishing of the relationship. The narrative combines documentary realism and cinematic invention and is fragmented, thus inviting us to see beyond the illusion of fiction.
- Director
- Eija-Liisa Ahtila
- Country of production
- Finland
- Year
- 1999
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 2001
- Length
- 25'
- Medium
- 35mm
- Original title
- Lohdutusseremonia
- Language
- Finnish
- Producers
- Crystal Eye Ltd, Ilppo Pohjola
- Sales
- Crystal Eye Ltd
- Screenplay
- Eija-Liisa Ahtila