Heart of a Lion

2013

1 hr. 39 min.

Drama

Romance

List

Reviews

71%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

A Finnish neo-Nazi (Peter Franzén) begins a complicated love affair with a woman (Laura Birn) who has a biracial son.

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Audience Member

Can love save us from an extremist ideology? That's the question addressed by "Heart of A Lion", four times nominated to the Jussi Awards (the Finnish equivalent of the BAFTA) in 2014. In addition to the actors' amazing performances (Peter Franzén is superb), the movie sensitively shows the trouble in having a normal life when we want to be an active representative to an ideology like nazism. Despite some tough moments and Dome Karukoski's accuracy to show how this extremely violent environment is, there is room for light in this Finnish movie. Little by little, Teppo finds his humanity and humbly realizes the limits of far-right ideologies that are indeed quite popular in Northern countries. Even though Finland is going to celebrate the first century of its independence, immigration is still rare and attachment to the roots and the national history are essential. Although the director says that "Heart of a Lion" could have been set anywhere, the story is the more legitimate and realist in Finland. This film sends us a beautiful moral: complicity, wiseness and reason can win against ignorance, exclusion and violence that, as shown by the movie, are synonyms of decay and degeneration instead of progress and growth. Full review on our blog Los Indiscretos : https://losindiscretos.org/english/heart-of-a-lion-2013-dome-karukoski

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

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Audience Member

Impressive. Thought provoking, especially in the current "climate". Brilliant cast all around, cars and grenades included.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

Generalizing and stupidity are killing others. Growing up of one Nazi fool in a hard way, lose some to win some.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

This was a good watch, and interesting too. only thing they needed voice double as reading subtitles is LONG.COM

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

gareth d

Somewhat reminscent of American History X, but not as hard hitting, and a little cheesy/predictable in places. Worth a watch though.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Proof that Finnish movies can be great.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

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Dome Karukoski

Director

Peter Franzén

Teppo

Jasper Pääkkönen

Harri

Laura Birn

Sari

Pamela Tola

Tölli

Jussi Vatanen

Kulmala

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

While Heart of a Lion can't quite avoid being labeled a social awareness film, it's at least a potently engaging one.

Aug 23, 2019

Full Review

Sarah Gopaul

Digital Journal

In Heart of a Lion (a.k.a. Leijonasydän), the division is an innate one that begins to tear the protagonist apart.

Oct 26, 2018

Full Review

Robert Koehler

Cinema Scope

At the heart of Heart of a Lion is a liberal fantasy of conversion from deep-seated bigotry to progressive tolerance driven by the power of love.

Oct 2, 2017

Full Review

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Synopsis

A Finnish neo-Nazi (Peter Franzén) begins a complicated love affair with a woman (Laura Birn) who has a biracial son.

Director: Dome Karukoski
Executive Producer: Martin Persson, Annika Sucksdorff, Miia Haavisto
Screenwriter: Aleksi Bardy
Production Co: Helsinki Filmi Oy
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: Finnish