THE LAST ONES

A trailer park in the middle of deserted Lapland, home to Rupi, son of a Sami reindeer herder, and his work buddies, who toil underground in the mines by day in order to drink themselves silly at the pub by night. The corrupt mine owner, Kari, has chosen to ruthlessly exploit nature, and human relationships too – time and again he butts heads with the reindeer herders or forces the miners to continue to work in spite of an accident. Then there's Riita, the wife of Rupi's friend, and the fact that all three men are vying for her attention. Not to mention the fact that Kari won't abide any slights in this regard either. With a master's touch, Veiko Õunpuu stages a raw and gruff western set in Finland's northern expanse, one in which all the heroes are gone. Instead, Õunpuu's opus exposes and deconstructs the macho, egotistical masculinity of mainstream Finnish society – Rupi and Riita are alone in their dreams of another life. Sten-Johan Lill's extremely physical camerawork stays very close to the past-their-prime protagonists at all times, juxtaposing them in the next shot with the beauty of the tundra. Backed with a unique score, THE LAST ONES adds up to a haunting cinema experience that continues to echo long after the credits have rolled.