Director Dome Karukoski’s and screenwriter Aleksi Bardy’s ”Heart of a lion” (Leijonasydän) is a Finnish movie, starring Peter Franzen, Yusufa Sidibeh and Laura Birn. The film have premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2013.
It tells about neo-Nazi Teppo who falls in love with a woman called Sari. Sari has a dark-skinned son Rhamadhan which is hard for Teppo and his Nazi group to accept.
Heart of a lion is a touching because it discusses themes of love and racism. The domestic film is also humorous, entertaining and evokes interest in the Finnish culture. For someone the movie might have too much violence and racism me for example. However, I could watch the movie again because awkward moments are easy to identify!
Karukoski’s directing style is excellent and he used actors who are sure of their actions. Especially unforgettable is Yusufa Sidbeh’s role Rhamu-boy who is the youngest one but still manages well. The Nazi group is convincing in an amazing way and will probably make people think that there is also similar action in Finland nowadays.
Heart of a lion is the best Finnish movie that I have seen, even it evoked more negative than positive thinks at first. The movie talk well about racism, without appraising anybody. That is a great attribute in a film director, and acts as a springboard to make Finnish films further better than before. I give number 9 for this movie and I can recommend for everyone to watch it, of course you have to notice the age limit ;D