Underplayed Gems

Kalevala: The New Era (2013)

Kalevala: The New Era poster
Original title
Kalevala – Uusi aika
Directed by
Jari Halonen
Genre
drama film, fantasy film
Country
Finland
Runtime
1h 50m
Rated
K-12
Rating
3.2 of 10 from 4 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This fantasy film loosely adapts the Finnish national epic The Kalevala. It shifts between the ancient mythical land and modern day Finland following a director's personal vision.

mythicambitiousunconventionalslowunevenearnestdisjointedlow-budget

What happens

Kalevala: The New Era (Finnish: Kalevala – Uusi aika) is a 2013 Finnish fantasy film directed by Jari Halonen. It loosely based on Finnish epic poetry, The Kalevala, taking place both in the ancient land of the Kalevala and also in modern Finland. Director Halonen started working on his own Kalevala-themed film after his previous film, The Life of Aleksis Kivi, working on it for ten years. According to Halonen, Lönnrot's Kalevala has always been "misinterpreted" by Finns, and in his own vision, he wanted to emphasize that "the Kalevala is a song of praise for equal motherhood and holiness." The film was premiered on 15 November 2013. The film, made with a budget of €250,000, turned out to be a box-office bomb and received a mostly negative reception from critics. In 2015, the film was released on television as a three-part miniseries under the name Kalevala – Väinämöisen uusi laulu ("A New Song of Väinämöinen"). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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