WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
WATCH THE FILM HERE with all proceeds going to the filmmakers!
First, the Recap:
Incapacitated. Powerless. What more helpless feeling might there be than when finding oneself in a circumstance that seems purely inescapable? Despite best efforts through any myriad of means to find the solace desired, it just doesn’t manifest. So, we must then ask ourselves–do we strive forward to see life maintain its momentum? Or, do we choose to remain speaking with ghosts? For one man (Matti Pajulahti), this is his reality, making no bones about the fact he’s unable to see the direction forward in the wake of loss. Discovering some peace speaking with a woman (Krista Hannula), his treasured love, he tried to recall where this profound relationship began–but to what ultimate end?
Next, my Mind:
As I know this critic has mentioned often, there are certain thematic journeys in narrative films that continue to resonate deeply, especially in the context of the indie film arena, where humanity and its tales are laid bare with raw emotion and soul-stirring sensibility. Hence, for me, this seven and a half minute short from writer/director/producer Samppa Batal, screened at the 2020 Berlin Revolution Film Festival, was definitively in that category. Exuding both heart-warming and heart-breaking moments throughout its abbreviated runtime, the tale of a man’s shattered life and his love’s caring yet challenging ministrations touches the soul unequivocally.
It’s an ode to the power of true abiding love, memories that should forever be adored and stored away in the mind’s closest reaches, yet also a learning of truth that life does indeed move on despite the hardest of occurences. What makes the film more potent is that the specifics of what exactly happened to set off this man’s laments are left to conjecture, instead opting to immerse us as the viewer immediately into the place he resides currently and the manner in which he’s dealt with it and is searching for a way out of that won’t deny his understandable pain while also celebrating the beauty of what he had and was given a chance to experience.
But, there is as mentioned above the reminder we must press on, find the appropriate time to mourn or grieve, and to keep seeking life. This is accomplished through recalling those things that were so positive and impactful, special moments and places that will never get forgotten in time. Otherwise we become paralyzed, frozen, not functioning in the ways we need to continue in and this can only damage ourselves and perhaps actually end up doing an injustice to those we cherished and miss, for would they want us to be wallowing in self-pity or overt depression as our new way of existing, even without them? I would certainly like to believe not, and the film does a moving job at addressing and depicting this.
Pajulahti provides a perfectly grounded performance as the man who’s suffering a loss and cannot seem to find the peace from it he desires, even while still making all efforts to remember the best of times, also finding himself talking to that which he’s now missing. Yet in doing so, it brings him down a path of recollection that builds him up and may become the exact catalyst for his inner healing, with Pajulahti expressing all of this with poignant, believable resolve. Likewise, the ethereally beautiful Hannula exquisitely navigates the role of the woman who is and always will be the object of the man’s affections. Her absence felt yet her presence palpable and real to him, both soothes and yet bids him to look at the choices he’s making that are now holding him back, with Hannula so wonderfully embodying his lost love with grace.
In total, with its gorgeous scenery, emotionally-charged narrative, and well-executed lessons in the potency of all-encompassing adoration, tangible connection, and unwavering devotion, “Sometimes We Swim” is a film that fully grips the heart, touches the soul, and acts as a mechanism to desire the level of love depicted, hold onto it, and pray we never lose it, even when its actual source might be taken away.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
