Joutilaat

In the far north-eastern corner of Finland, close to the Russian border, there is not much work for young people. They have to move to the bigger cities or stay and wait for an opportunity to arise. The three idle guys portrayed in this film represent a new, quite disorientated generation in the Finnish north. They hang around drinking beer and seek fun, but that is not all they want. They want to work, too. But they do not have any work experience, so they have very little chance of finding a job. Between childhood and adult life, the boys are still struggling to find their independence. The landscape, shot in poetic images, seems to be an excessive backdrop to the boys’ lives. They do not fit into this splendour, but they do not go with the flow of everyday life either. And, as it is said in the film, ‘They are living for tomorrow, but it never comes’. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)