The Beauty of Errors
Dir. Jukka Kärkkäinen • 2026 • 94 min • Finland • 16+
When children grow up their parents have to change too. When Tero’s son Henri falls in love, the father feels betrayed. A sharp, poignant and unexpectedly upbeat story about a family where love is presented through awkward gestures, glances and sighs. The clash between father and son reveals a generational model of inherited masculinity – concern is more often expressed in actions not words, while attachment hides behind sharp remarks. The everyday routine the characters seem to be stuck in alternates with a picturesque calm accompanied by Finnish pop classics. Like in Aki Kaurismäki’s works with a world full of comic situations, there is no shortage of typical Nordic dark humour. The absurdity of everyday dilemmas reveals human vulnerability and the so-very-familiar desire for understanding and support from loved ones, and the courage to accept one’s own mistakes and those of others. The film doesn’t judge – it is moving in its ability to see the tenderness where loneliness, dependence and everyday difficulties dwell.
Director Jukka Kärkkäinen has been making documentary films since 2003. His films are often centred around people who are ignored by society. He has worked with Tero and Henri before – the 2009 film “The Living Room of the Nation” (Kansakunnan olohuone) is about Tero becoming a father, and in “The Beauty of Errors” he revisits both characters 15 years later. Kärkkäinen admits that the film was inspired by the works of Roy Andersson and Ulrich Zeidler.
Screening
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Splendid Palace
Friday 11 Sep
18:00
Q&A with director Jukka Kärkkäinen -
Splendid Palace
Saturday 12 Sep
15:00
Q&A with director Jukka Kärkkäinen
