Blue Baby

Klaus Härö’s latest film, Blue Baby, is firmly rooted in the pressures of the present while grappling with questions that are ultimately timeless. Where do the limits of individual responsibility lie in moments of moral conflict?

The film is set against the backdrop of a deepening crisis in Finland’s health and social care sector, with the threat of strike action looming over the workforce. Inka (Laura Birn), a specialist nurse, is always willing to stretch herself a little further, even though, as a single mother, she is desperately needed at home as well. At work, Inka cares for a family just beginning a new chapter together, whose fragile happiness is overshadowed by their newborn’s heart defect. Desperate to save her child, the mother, Leni (Oona Airola), is prepared to do whatever it takes. 

In less capable hands, these ingredients might have yielded a heavy-handed moral fable. Härö, however, follows in the tradition of Ken Loach and the Dardenne brothers, focusing instead on intimate human drama and nuanced moral inquiry precisely where the material seems to invite easy polarisation. The result is a film with a deeply felt emotional pulse.

Tytti Rantanen

Espoo Ciné -awarded Klaus Härö will attend the screening as well as the artist talk in Bio Rex Lasipalatsi on Saturday, 22 August.