Zaida Bergroth charts the life of the acclaimed creator of the beloved Moomins stories in this engrossing and moving biopic.
The author of the popular children’s stories had a life as rich and wonderful as the characters she created. Bergroth’s film steers clear of an authoritative lifetime biopic, instead focusing on a pivotal ten-year period in the author’s life, which proved tumultuous in terms of her personal relationships and fruitful in her development as a writer. She challenged the mores of a conservative society, incurred the dismissal of a father who expected more serious enterprise from her, but by forging her own path created an indelible dynasty with her fiction and became an icon for choosing her own way of life.
Alma Pöysti, who had previously played the writer on stage, excels as Tove, while the film rapturously captures life in the 1950s. It’s a perfect and heartfelt tribute to one of the most original voices in 20th century European literature.
