Above Dark Waters (2013) Poster

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6/10
Beautiful movie with little story... somehow I liked it
sankhaonline15 February 2014
This is my first Finnish movie. I had no expectations no high hopes. It was my first cultural introduction to Finland.

After watching it at friend's place my first reaction was 'Not Bad!'.

The genre says this is drama movie and all about little Pete. There is a very thin storyline here which takes us along with Pete's perceptions of growing up and interactions of adults around him. Its common story, if you are born and brought up in the US you may have already been in the shoes of little Pete. His world comprises of his mom, his step father, his somehow unknown biological father, little sister, grand parents and some neighbors. And above all, its Finland's ruthless beauty.

The actors are good and believable except for some brief moments. The kid playing the role of Pete is talented. He is aloof, distracted from his surroundings, he is inside some invisible shell of his own. He can sense the frustration among the adult relationships and reflect the same in some of his deeds. Its natural and down to naked reality.

In this kind of movie you can't expect any definite ending. Its all about the journey and never the destination. Still it kept room for hope, love and striving for a better tomorrow in a subtle way.

Watch it without any expectation and you won't be disappointed, may be even start loving the very real characters among us. That's where the movie succeeds.
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2/10
Same old, same old...
Too basic Finnish story, with dark family secret.

Tumman veden päällä brings nothing new to the genre and contains the same actors and actresses as always in Finnish movies. I'm sorry, but it really is Super boring to watch. Even the reality-TV is more interesting to watch.

Then also something is wrong with the dialogue-mix. Volume of the dialogue is jumping around from high to low, and there's no point. It' is annoying.

Something good also: Sam Edelmann does fine job as the role of the father, and the little boy's haircut is insane. Like Jim Carrey's in Dumb and Dumber (1993). Santa Clause is representing as authentic as it were in Finland at 1970's, when it looked like a horror character. Thank god the Coca Cola Company made the red and lovely fat dude to us.

Now really is the time to put this Finnish movie genre to hold for at least ten years.
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