BFI Flare – Review: Tove (2020)

Behind every great work, regardless of style or medium, there is always more to the story than many ever know.  With the fairy tale characters The Moomins and their creator Tove Jansson, that is especially true.

The Moomins, with their soft, round hippo-esque appearance, are well known children’s favourites that have graced a number of books and newspaper comic strips for many years.  Starting in the 1940s, they became a worldwide phenomenon and expanded their reach to include films, plays and even a theme park in Finland.   A lot is known about the work itself, but much less is generally known about Tove’s somewhat surprising life.

So now, Finnish director Zaida Bergroth delves into Tove’s history with this engaging and intriguing biopic, full of energy and a vivacious richness of spirit.  Primarily the focus is on the most significant years in her life, between 1944 and the mid-50s, where she both created her most well-known work and formed her enduring relationships.  There is much here that is fascinating, and not just in relation to the Moomins, but also as a snapshot of the artistic life of Finnish artists of the period.

Born at the start of the first world war, Tove (Alma Pöysti) grew up in a very artistic household with a famous sculptor father, Viktor (Robert Enckell), and a graphic artist mother Signe (Kajsa Ernst).  Although Tove is encouraged by her mother, she constantly lives under her father’s shadow and he has strict views on what art can be.  By World War II, she has fully identified herself as a painter and made that her primary work, but on the side she illustrates political cartoons as a form of protest against the Nazis.  She is struggling though, and year after year sees her father gaining grants for his work, while never getting any herself.

One of her regular distractions away from her painting is the Moomin characters, which we first see her drawing while sheltering from German bombs at the tail end of the war.  Given her upbringing, she doesn’t seriously consider these of any significance, and the focus for her is her painting.  This is a bittersweet thread throughout the film, as there’s the feeling that she considered herself a failed painter, rather than as a successful illustrator, at least in her father’s eyes.

What changes everything is her attitude to life, and the influence of some key friendships.  Tove treats life like it’s ‘a wonderful adventure’, and she is determined to not limit her exploration of it.  Immersed in intellectual and artistic social circles, she becomes the lover of Atos Wirtanen (Shanti Roney) a married, left-wing intellectual and MP.  Although they try to keep this relationship simple, and without difficult emotional ties, they do find that it isn’t quite as simple as that.

The biggest impact though is Tove’s meeting and subsequent relationship with married theatre director, and daughter of the local mayor, Vivica Bandler (Krista Kosonen).  Vivica is a force of nature and also sees life as something to be explored, although she has the resources to do it to a greater degree.  While Tove falls deeply under her spell, Vivica isn’t able to reciprocate fully, which later she regrets.

Critically, Vivica sees the potential of the Moomins, and pushes Tove to believe it too, leading to the first theatre production at the Swedish Theatre in 1949, directed by Vivica.  This relationship also inspires the Thingumy and Bob characters in the Moomins.  Similarly, Atos, who inspired the Snufkin character, supports her creation and publishes a Moomin comic strip in his newspaper ‘Ny Tid’.  After this point Tove concentrates more on the Moomins and puts her painting away, at least for now.

Nothing is simple for Tove though, and she is caught between her feelings for Vivica and Atos’ feelings for her, and the only way forward is to remain friends with both.  Near the end of the film, we see her start a relationship with artist Tuulikki Pietilä (Joanna Haartti), who she remained with until her death.

It’s these relationships that form the main structure of the film, and there is actually very little focus on the Moomins themselves.  If you started watching this expecting to know more about the specifics of their creation, you will be disappointed.  You would also miss the main point.  This is a vibrant and compelling look at an artist struggling under the weight of expectation and her own identity.  It’s not a simple tale, and Bergroth embues this with a lot of nuance.  There’s no broad strokes here, and it doesn’t shy away from showing the complexity of her relationships in tender, poignant moments.

At the heart of it Alma Pöysti is magnificent, and gives a wonderful performance that embodies Tove perfectly.  This is underlined by a piece of home footage in the credits that shows the real Tove dancing enthusiastically, which is clearly reflected by Pöysti.  Alongside her, Kosonen is seductive, and Roney is endearingly reserved as Vivica and Atos respectively.  This trio, and how they relate to one another make this world feel entirely authentic.   This then gives a real sense of the adventure, and difficulties they all faced.

They’re helped of course by a wonderful script from Eeva Putro, set design by Catharina Nyqvist Ehrnrooth, and rich cinematography from Linda Wassberg, which when allied to a brilliantly chosen soundtrack, it brings this engrossingly to life.  It’s not just complicated, enchanting, bittersweet, endearing, or surprising, it’s all of them.  Whether you are interested in the Moomins, art history, or just people in general, this will pull you in with its charm, wit, and enthralling performances.

Tove is showing as part of the BFI Flare Film Festival which continues until 28th March.