A stunning offering of LGBTQ+ world cinema, Girl Picture (Tytöt tytöt tytöt) paints a moving portrait of young love, sexual discovery, and female friendship by Finnish director Alli Haapasalo.
Decisions are hurled at adolescents at a break-neck pace. As a teenager, you’re finally allowed to make your own decisions. You’re also young enough so that “the rest of your life” appears more broad and expansive and unknowable than it ever will. There’s a power to your choices and the things you choose to care about greatly affect your future. It’s no wonder that one’s coming of age is often a breeding ground for confusion; that learning how one fits in with the surrounding world is such a ubiquitous experience in life and film.
In Girl Picture, that confusion manifests especially in the journey of Emma (Linnea Leino). Emma’s lifelong devotion to ice skating has given her clear direction in her life. But on the cusp of adulthood, when her commitment to the art has higher stakes for her future than ever, Emma’s devotion to skating wavers. What would she be missing out on if she continued to pursue the sport? What would she lose in giving it up?
I found the intermediacy of Emma’s narrative the film’s most compelling storyline. It’s all the more elevated by Leino’s soulful performance–but also in how it interacts with Girl Picture’s other main protagonists, best friends Mimmi (Aamu Milonoff) and Rönkkö (Eleonoora Kauhanen).
Delightful beacons of realistic female friendship, Mimmi and Rönkkö complement each other well. The former make decisions instantly, passionately–unconcerned with consequences. As Mimmi delves headfirst into a consuming relationship with Emma, Rönkkö worries she’s missing out on that kind of vivid life experience. She wants to have good sex for the first time but struggles to even feel arousal. To straightforward Mimmi, the old adage “practice makes perfect” must apply. So, Rönkkö embarks on an open-ended journey of sexual discovery, hopeful to find what she feels is missing.
The stories of the three young women intersect to form a complex picture of the liminality and weightiness of the female teenage experience. Rönkkö, Emma, and Mimmi each have deep inner lives and difficult questions to consider, all with significant implications for their inscrutable futures. Haapasalo weaves together the girls’ rich individual conflicts to create a beautiful story of female friendship, queer love, and coming of age. Highly recommended.
What kind of film collection would this title be suitable for?
Girl Picture would make a wonderful addition to LGBTQ+ film collections as well as collections centering on themes of female friendship.
What public library shelves would this title be on?
Girl Picture belongs on LGBTQ+, world cinema, Finnish language, romance, drama, and narrative film public library shelves.
What subjects or college majors would benefit from the content covered in this film?
Film studies and world cinema classes could benefit from studying Girl Picture as a piece of Finnish cinema. Additionally, classes about women in film should consider screening Girl Picture for its portrait of sapphic love and female friendship.
Girl Picture is Finland's submission for Best International Feature Film for the 2023 Academy Awards!
Girl Picture, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival, is a vibrant, lively film tracking the lives of young women today. Best friends Mimmi and Rönkkö have each other’s backs, always. They want to live adventurous lives, loaded with experiences and passion. Emma, on the contrary, has given her whole life to figure skating. Nothing gets between her and success. But when the girls meet, life opens new paths, and they all rocket in new directions. While Mimmi and Emma experience the earth moving effects of first love, Rönkkö is on a quest to find pleasure.
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Ilkka Saastamoinen
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