Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Cuckoo Finland Russian movie

The story about woman gives birth to twins fathered by two different men Russian and Finnish soldiers.
The Cuckoo film on line English subtitles

The Cuckoo is a 2002 film directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin. Its Russian title is Kukushka. It takes place during World War II from the perspective of opposing Russian and Finnish soldiers stranded at a Sami woman's farmhouse.
September 1944. Several days before Finland, a co-belligerent of Nazi Germany, pulls out of the Continuation War against the Soviet Union, Veikko (Ville Haapasalo), a lone Finnish sniper, is turned on by his compatriots for a being a pacifist and, in their eyes, a reluctant fighter. As a punishment, the young man is placed in shackles, chained to a rock outcrop and forced to wear a German SS uniform, knowing full well that Russian soldiers have orders to shoot SS soldiers on sight, without accepting surrender. Veikko is thus left to die in a remote Lapland forest, with nothing but a few supplies and his wits. Days pass, and after several failed attempts, he succeeds in freeing himself and heads for safety, shackles still attached.
Meanwhile Ivan (Viktor Bychkov), a captain in the Russian army accused of anti-Soviet correspondence, is being held prisoner by the NKVD secret police. En route to his court martial, Russian planes accidentally bomb the vehicle carrying the disgraced captain, killing the driver and his captor. Veikko, at this stage still chained to the rock witnesses the bombing though his riflescope.
Not far away is the farm of Anni (Anni-Kristiina Juuso), a Sami reindeer farmer whose husband was drafted into the war by the Finnish authorities four years earlier, never to return. Hungry and alone, the young and resourceful widow locates the bodies of Ivan and his captors while foraging for food. As she begins to bury the dead, Anni discovers that Ivan is still alive, but seriously hurt. She carries him to her wooden hut and nurses him back to health. Meanwhile, Veikko, in search of tools to remove his shackles, stumbles upon Anni’s farm. Thus World War II creates the unlikeliest of bonds (between three different people, from three different cultures, speaking three different languages.)
Comic, and sometimes tragic, misunderstandings soon arise, resulting in a passionate and very human, three-way relationship. Unable to communicate with the others and unaware that the war between the USSR and Finland is over, Ivan is convinced that Veikko is a German soldier gone astray, to Ivan, the German uniform the Finnish soldier was forced to wear is further proof. But Veikko is unaware of Ivan’s hatred and just wants to cut off his shackles, return home and put the war behind him. Yet to avoid falling to enemy hands, Veikko opts to stay on Anni’s farm for temporary safety. The earthly and sensuous Anni, who has not been with a man in four years, could not be more delighted with her good fortune, language barrier be damned.
For Anni, Veikko and Ivan are not enemies, but just men. An uncommon and touching bond develops, as the three unlikely souls begin a domestic routine of hunting and gathering in preparation for the long Lap winter. The two men do what they can to contribute to Anni’s well-being. Veikko build a sauna and Ivan picks mushrooms… Veikko, Ivan and Anni communicate only in gesture. Starved for love and physical touch, Anni seduces young, strapping Veikko, much to the chagrin of jealous middle-aged Ivan.
Not long afterwards a Soviet biplane crashes in the forest near Anni’s hut, spilling leaflets announcing an armistice between Finland and Russia. Veikko thinks he can finally return home safely, but Ivan – who does not understand Finnish – manages to find a pistol in the wreckage and, still convinced that Veikko is a Fascist, shoots him. When he reads the last line of the leaflet the plane was dropping (written in Russian and instructing Soviet soldiers to allow the Finns to return home unmolested), he realizes that the war is over. Ivan is torn with remorse and stumbling, carries Veikko back to the farm.
The nurturing Anni brings Veikko back from the brink of death through a series of ancient Sami magic rituals. With Veikko bedridden, Anni’s needs for companionship and sexual longing draw Ivan into her bed. Gradually, Ivan and Veikko, no longer separated by ethnic hate nor rivalry for the affections of Anni, become friends. As winter arrives and the two men head back to their respective homes in opposite directions, Anni is left behind with memories –and much more – of her two unlikely comrades in war and peace.
info (c) wikipedia.org