Eleganssi

Director Virpi Suutari's Elegance is a real pearl for a film, a carefully planned and constructed masterpiece. Usually portrait documentaries are set in three locations: home, work and play. In this unusual documentary film we follow three powerful leaders only at play, doing something they truly love. For hunting is the one thing these leaders have in common. And as we follow them from the office to the forest, we get to glimpse into the private personalities of the legendary publisher Heikki A. Reenpää and the corporate leaders Antti Herlin and Jorma Ollila. Don't expect any trade secrets, but we do get to see these big shots out of their board room habitat, as players in this ancient, carefully choreographed blood ritual. Sanna Salmenkallio's cembalo music echoes the centuries past thus emphasizing Jani Kumpulanen's composition, which is undeniably influenced by the stilllebens of classic art. Men and hunting dogs create a new pack, a new tribe, and finally we see the powerful trio in a different light, as men instead of suits. The hunting dogs and their unruly behaviour even allow us to smile at the mortality of these moguls. As we follow the quarry from the hunting grounds to the hands of chefs and white-gloved butlers, and all the way to the fancy dining halls, we are following an allegory of the society and the pedigree of both men and dog.
Kira Schroeder/Translation: Tuomo Karvonen (DocPoint)