The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki
| The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Juho Kuosmanen |
| Produced by | Jussi Rantamäki |
| Written by | Juho Kuosmanen Mikko Myllylahti |
| Starring |
Jarkko Lahti Oona Airola Eero Milonoff |
| Cinematography | Jani-Petteri Passi |
| Edited by | Jussi Rautaniemi |
| Distributed by | B-Plan Distribution |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
| Country |
Finland Germany Sweden |
| Language | Finnish, English |
| Box office | $360,863 |
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (Finnish: Hymyilevä mies) is a 2016 Finnish drama film directed by Juho Kuosmanen. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Prize Un Certain Regard. It was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.
It's the year 1962: Olli Mäki (Jarkko Lahti) is a Finnish amateur-turned-professional boxer from the town of Kokkola, who while attending a wedding, becomes smitten with his friend Raija (Oona Airola). They travel to Helsinki where his manager Elis Ask (Eero Milonoff) is preparing Olli's big break: a World Boxing Association featherweight championship title fight against renowned American boxer Davey Moore (John Bosco Jr.) in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. The match would be one of the biggest events in Finnish sporting history, even though most people - including Olli - are sceptical: Moore's record vastly outclasses Olli's.
The preparations don't go without problems: Olli is lightweight and has to lose weight within the course of two weeks to go down to featherweight, Elis' enthusiasm about the match includes hiring a documentary film crew who become increasingly disruptive as the preparations go on, and staging various dinner parties with the sponsors of the match which require the uncomfortable Olli to adhere to protocol. The circus around the match disheartens Olli, who falls more and more in love with Raija - Raija, however, feels she's a burden on Olli's preparation, and leaves back to Kokkola. Olli has a hard time concentrating, and eventually follows Raija, much to the dismay of Elis, who is concerned that Olli won't make weight by the time the weigh-in comes, let alone be prepared for the match itself.
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Wikipedia