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Tom of Finland

Play trailer 2:13 Poster for Tom of Finland Released Oct 13, 2017 1h 56m Biography History Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
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83% Tomatometer 70 Reviews 69% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen becomes famous for his homoerotic works.
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Tom of Finland

Tom of Finland

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Critics Consensus

Tom of Finland honors its subject with an empathetic, even-handed, and above all entertaining look at the pioneering art he produced from private turmoil.

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Critics Reviews

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Ben Sachs Chicago Reader Director Dome Karukoski brings an oddly tasteful approach... But once Laaksonen achieves success and finds domestic happiness with a ballet dancer, the filmmakers don't have much to say about their subject. Apr 10, 2020 Full Review Ty Burr Boston Globe In a subtle but wily performance, Strang never loses sight of his character's innate sense of resistance. Rated: 2.5/4 Dec 14, 2017 Full Review Kristen Page-Kirby Washington Post In the end, the overarching theme of "Tom of Finland" is the power of art, even - or maybe especially - so-called deviant art. Rated: 3/4 Dec 7, 2017 Full Review Sarah Vincent Cambridge Day The ghost of war and trauma became muses cheering on his satirical fetish art, which transformed threatening tormentors into a beckoning aesthetic ideal with plenty of biker beefcakes and overly uniformed men of authority. Aug 16, 2023 Full Review Ben Turner The Pink Lens The film is unable to find its stride by playing it safe for 90% of its time on screen, with the remaining 10% going off on a wild tangent that looks like an advert for Piz Buin. Rated: 3/5 Sep 2, 2021 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com It's a good film, occasionally a very good film, but it never really soars like this story should soar. Rated: 3.0/4.0 Sep 26, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Daniel O Based on real events. But need to focus better on his life no in the drawnings Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/22/23 Full Review Roger S An immersive movie, very understated but never felt slow. Tom of Finland has a compusive story, and is an excellent reference point to gain insight into both pre- and post- WW2 gay society. The (mostly) restrained acting feels true to it's bio-pic ethos and given the huge scope of the film from his early life in the army during WW2 right through to his mainstream acceptance as an artist in the States, it never seems to get bogged down. I've watched it twice with friends and it's really worth trying. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Albeit it's a sketchy portrayal of the notorious titular protagonist's psyche, this Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards is nevertheless a stirring autobiography of Touko Laaksonen whose sketches of leather-clad homoerotic masculinization nurtured the 20th century gay culture. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member this one played like a PBS biography special with disconnected moments (what happened in America) + too many disjointed themes and characters that never really pulled it off.... Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member The fascinating and unforeseeable trajectory of this true story and its central figure was unbeknown to me and consistently drew interest to the film as a result, despite the alternating and confusing shifts in timeline throughout. Tom of Finland is an important film, especially for the gay community. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member The movies focuses too much on the "finland" part and not the "tom" part. I'm not mad, just disappointed Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Tom of Finland

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen becomes famous for his homoerotic works.
Director
Dome Karukoski
Producer
Aleksi Bardy, Miia Haavisto, Annika Sucksdorff
Screenwriter
Aleksi Bardy
Distributor
Kino Lorber
Production Co
Film Väst, Helsinki Filmi Oy, Anagram, Fridthjof Film
Genre
Biography, History, Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
Finnish
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 13, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 9, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA)
$293.9K
Runtime
1h 56m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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