Hukkamies
Juha Suonpää
Finland | 2013 | 75 min
World premiere
Language : Finnish
Subtitles : English, French
Seppo Ronkainen studies wolves’ communication and habits. He has kept a video diary of his activities for 13 years. These unique images immerse us in a universe where wild nature is not sensationalised at all, and allow us to witness the beauty of the complex relationship between an endangered species and a human being.
Seppo Ronkainen studied the language and the habits of wolves for 13 years. He was hired to monitor the life of the wolves and to collect data. The director gave him a camera in 1998 and Seppo starts filming his everyday life shared with wolves. He calls them by name, knows how they are related to each other and talks about them as his family. The film is built around the images Seppo shot during those 13 years. Despite the extraordinary material, the director chooses a soft-spoken tone, an antispectacular rhythm, a respectful, intimate approach. "Hukkamies deals with environmental ethics […] through the complexity of the relationship between an endangered species and mankind. Like many other carnivores, the wolf is surrounded by a controversial aura and many clichés. By taking a closer and a more open-minded look at the bond between wolf and man, we can break the stereotypical idea of the ‘big bad wolf’ and just consider man as part of nature” (JS). The immersive experience of this environment amplifies our senses: we can almost feel the snow falling on us, the thin air in our lungs and a troubling empathy and connection with a “family”. of which we are, after all, a part.
Paolo Moretti
