Olli Mäki in 1958
THE HAPPIEST DAY
IN THE LIFE OF OLLI MÄKI (Hymyilevä mies) B+
Finland Sweden
Germany (92 mi) 2016
d: Juho Kuosmanen
A film of wit,
brevity, and style, winner of the of the Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes, offering
a candidly refreshing side of Finnish boxer Olli Mäki who had a shot at the
1962 World Featherweight title in Helsinki, the first world championship match
to take place in any Nordic country.
What makes this so fascinating is Olli’s low-key, uniquely subdued
personality, as he’d rather be almost anywhere except the center of attention,
feeling terribly out of place throughout the entire run-up to the fight, which
is filled with publicity interviews, photographs, and newspaper stories hyping
the fight. Jarkko Lahti plays the rather
reluctant hero, a small town guy who’s more at home working on cars, playing
with kids, or bicycling through the countryside, seen early on with his
girlfriend Raija (Oona Airola), where the two seem genuinely happy and in sync
with each other, with both speaking their minds, but choosing few words to do
it. So Olli’s overdriven trainer and
manager, Elis (Eero Milonoff), a former boxer himself, is a bit perplexed when
Olli shows up for training camp with a girlfriend in tow. In boxing circles, that’s just not done. Nonetheless, he couldn’t get through the
process without her, reminiscent of some of the early Buster Keaton films, like
BATTLING BUTLER (1926), who only got into the sport of boxing to impress his
girlfriend. In fact, it would be easy to
think this is a fictionalized film, as it only has traces of boxing to the
story, most all of it taking place outside the ring, where it’s more of a
character driven drama, feeling at times like a Kaurismäki road movie
showcasing the outdoor beauty of the Finnish countryside, especially the wild
music that opens the film played by the Ykspihlajan Kino-orkesteri (composed by
Miika Snåre), Hymyileva
mies - The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki | Cannes winner "Un
certain regard" YouTube (1:33).
The real Olli Mäki had a distinguished amateur career, placing second in
the European lightweight category in 1957, ultimately winning the championship
in 1959 while still in his early 20’s, turning professional shortly afterwards
with a record of 8-1, while his more experienced opponent, the reigning
champion Davey Moore, had a professional record of 56-6.
A visually
striking first feature, shot in a sumptuous 16mm black and white photography by
Jani-Petteri Passi evoking the newsreel coverage of the period, there is an
immediacy captured simply by the way the film is shot, using plenty of 60’s cinéma
vérité handheld camera movement, like that seen in Cassavetes’ Shadows
(1959) or Chris Marker’s Le Joli
Mai (1963), though there will inevitably be comparisons to Scorsese’s
indelible portrait of Jake LaMotta in RAGING BULL (1980). Far from being the bruiser that LaMotta was,
Mäki is a communist baker from rural Finland where in boxing jargon he is known
as the “Baker of Kokkola,” not exactly fierce words that make opponents tremble
at the thought. Instead he is a
homegrown, working class hero with that one in a million chance to be Finland’s
golden boy, where the real driving force behind his opportunity is his
hard-nosed and ruthlessly ambitious trainer Elis who continually showcases his
fighter in endless photo shoots, sponsor dinners, while meeting other high
roller financiers in the bright lights of Helsinki. But in contrast to the icy blondes of the big
city, Olli is falling in love with an easygoing hometown girl in Raija, seen
making eye contact with her at one of the press conferences, where the two may
as well be lost in their own little world, making it harder for him to
concentrate on the fight, as he simply wants to be with her. Instead, Elis urges him to “look cruel” in
one of the many pre-fight publicity photos, and when Olli hesitates to blow his
own horn and instead humbly praises his opponent, Elis is quick to step in and
play the part of the blustery promoter, continually raising the hopes of his
countrymen, announcing he’ll be ready once they step into the ring. Among
his biggest concerns is dropping from lightweight to featherweight, where he’ll
have to lose a significant amount of weight.
Boxers, like wrestlers, are used to this, but having never fought in
this division before, he’s not sure what to expect. Adding to this is the absurdity of all the
free food provided by sponsor dinners, where making light of the situation is
one of the things this film does best.
Initially, when
Mäki runs off to Helsinki to train, Raija comes with him, comically placed
together in a small children’s room with bunk beds, where to get away and have
some time together they run off to a local fairground attraction, throwing
balls to dunk a pretty maiden in a pool of water. But later, once she’s returned home, he
revisits the fairground alone, in a beautiful series of shots not only invoking
a tinge of sadness, but a despairing aspect in the harshness of the conditions
by the people forced to work there, where we don’t even know who they are but
we are led to feel empathy towards them. With Olli left alone, we see him punishingly train
outdoors in the rain, as the fight will be outdoors, yet he’s pushed to the
limits, not physical endurance, which he’s used to, but all the other
extraneous aspects that throw him into the limelight, eventually running away,
back to the countryside to be with Raija, the place where their romance blooms,
where some of the most charming scenes reveal the simplicity of the Finnish
countryside, with people proudly linked to the land, as we see Olli take a heat
sauna followed by a naked dip in one of the lakes. When seen in this light, nothing could
possibly feel more natural. While no
shortage of complications exist, the film inevitably leads to the ordeal in the
ring, but not before a brief but telling scene reveals the date of the fight
really is the happiest day of his life, something that will not be lost by
viewing audiences, as happiness is something found in unexpected places and
amounts to more than a fleeting moment of triumph. The fight itself feels anti-climactic, though
only because of the even-handed balance in the story, feverishly shifting
angles and perspectives, all in search of an authentic emotional truth, where
the film is at its best lingering on faces, sharing small, playful moments,
infused with the smallest details far beyond the cliché’s of sports films,
where the emotional resonance of romance takes hold and is utterly captivating.
Like John Garfield in Robert Rossen’s
boxing film Body
and Soul (1947), personal magnetism, refusing to be exploited, and the
ability to express human decency prevails.
It’s only fitting, then, that the real-life Olli and Raija appear in the
film’s final scene, a fitting tribute to them both.
