Once Upon a Time in the North

It could have been a good historical action movie. The historical background is interesting enough for someone to film some decent action out of it. If only someone with a good sense of style and creative mindset would take another stab to the subject.

There could be even a chance to make social commentary, as young men of the era rebelled against strict laws and rules of society and religious morality in 19th century Finnish Ostrobothnia. What was special - meaning when compared to similar rebellious actions in other parts of the world - was that rebelling young men "puukkojunkkarit" belonged to all classes of society, there were house owners, farmers and farm servants. So, the battle was actually between cool fun people and uptight self-righteous people, more than criminals and lawful people.

But this flick, Härmä, has no social commentary. It promotes the boring guy and makes the fun guy criminal.

Rest of the plot is just as unimaginative and literal. It's a simple hereditary rivalry between two brothers. And quite tedious one. The major problem with the story is that there's a pattern, which is repeated several times. Because of it you feel like you have seen the same story 3-4 times before the film actually ends.