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CAPITAL FOCUS AWARD

The House of Branching Love

MIKA KAURISMÄKI
Finland, 2009, 102 minutes, Color

This thoroughly madcap dark comedy follows a divorcing middle-aged couple forced to remain together until they can sell their house. Although husband Juhani (Hannu-Pekka Bjorkman) prepares a new list of "house rules" to make life bearable, he immediately violates the "no guests" rule by bringing home a woman he met at a club. This prompts wife Tuula (Elina Knihtila) to find her own new boyfriend to flaunt. Aided and abetted by the pair's meddling best friends, the escalation of accusations, recriminations, and general poor judgment pile up as the house becomes more crowded. Further complicating everything are the various unseen connections everyone shares. Juhani hires a pretend girlfriend from his brother, who is working for Tuula's estranged mother, who runs a prostitution ring, who is being investigated by a policewoman, who is a patient of Juhani. On and on it goes until each person discovers a truth about themselves. —Dave Nuttycombe

In Finnish with English subtitles

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