.jpg)
Open Up to Me
- Director: Simo Halinen
- Writer: Simo Halinen
- Producer: Madeleine Ekman; Liisa Penttilä
CGiii Comment
Firstly, with a trans film, it's always going to be about the performance...
Secondly, there are the usual issues of acceptance, loneliness and truth...refreshingly, this film tells the truth up front...I am a transgender woman...it's the other little lies that get Maarit into trouble...and, her unfortunate pomposity.
You may warm to her, you - most likely - will not...she and the story are as cold as the Finnish weather...
The self-centredness, always the pitfall with a trans story, has not been avoided...
It's almost as if she is out to wreck a life as some sort of compensation for the crap that she's had to put up with...this bitterness leaves you cold and numb and devoid of any empathy for her.
Possibly, not the film's intention. But...despite its difficulties...an admirable film.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Maarit has successfully managed to live a double life - a male body transformed into an attractive and intelligent woman. However, this new life has come at a considerable price, as many transgendered individuals have come to discover. Estranged from her wife and daughter, Maarit feels like a stranger in a cold but familiar world, that is, until the day she meets Sami. In the midst of a marital crisis, Sami has come to seek the help of Maarit's employer, a therapist. In the therapist's absence, Maarit feels compelled to help the man, even if it means impersonating the therapist to get through to Sami.
Cast & Characters
Leea Klemola as Maarit;
Peter Franzen as Sami;
Ria Kataja as Julia;
Emmi Nivala as Pinja;
Alex Anton as Teo;
Johannes Anttila as Matias;
Celso de la Molina as Jaime;
Rasoul Dehgan as Atilla;
Seppo Halttunen as Toyota-mies;
Maria Heiskanen as Silva