Seen at...
Tom of Finland
- Director: Dome Karukoski
- Writer: Aleksi Bardy
- Producer: Aleksi Bardy; Gunnar Carlsson
CGiii Comment
Not being a fan of 'Tom of Finland' - this film was approached with a detectable amount of trepidation. Never pre-judge a film!
Seriously...this is not the film (nor the story) that was expected...this is so, so much more!
The colour palette is art. The insight is a revelation. His influence is indisputable. As for the backlash...a sad sign-of-those-tumultuous-tragic-times. This film is a remedy...
Indeed, this film gives Touko Laaksonen a legacy...and, a legitimate, well-earned place in LGBT history.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Touko Laaksonen returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. Persecuted for his homosexuality, he finds himself trapped in secret affairs and pressured to get married to a woman. He finds refuge and liberation in his art, specialising in homoerotic drawings of muscular men in sexually uninhibited situations. His work - made famous by his signature 'Tom Of Finland' - became the emblem of a generation of gay men and fanned the flames of a revolution in the USA.
Cast & Characters
Pekka Strang as Touko Laaksonen aka Tom of Finland;
Werner Daehn asMüller;
Lauri Tilkanen as Veli;
Jessica Grabowsky as Kaija;
Jakob Oftebro as Jack;
Jimmy Shaw as Policeman;
Þorsteinn Bachmann as Editor of the Physic Pictorial Office;
Kari Hietalahti as Sahlin;
Troy T. Scott as Tom's man;
Seumas F. Sargent as Doug;
Jan Böhme as Tom's man