The Finnish film phenomenon vindicates the strength of women

"You think life is all about love and fun, that you can decide which path to take and that you don't have to be afraid of anything... Do you really think Janne wants a woman who makes her own decisions?", reproaches her sister Maya (Amanda Jansson) in a moment ofMaya's destiny, directed by Finnish filmmaker and actress Tiina Lymi. Winner of the Best Film Award at the BCN Film Fest 2024, this film, which adapts the first installment of the renowned pentalogy by writer Anni Blomqvist, is, therefore, a vindication of women's strengths. In the key of a romantic and domestic epic, and with a very academic narrative spirit, Lymi embellishes her version of the literary classic with the exquisite use of the Stormskerry Island landscape to accompany the challenges and adversities Maya faces, from youth to old age.

Maya's destiny It explores the main life episodes of the protagonist (arranged marriage, children, war, financial independence) and interweaves them through elegant ellipses that allow the pace of this lengthy film to flow with a certain organic flow. Despite the clear imbalance between the prologue and the much more exciting closing moments, Lymi casts a genuine and respectful eye on her heroine, a woman ahead of her time who learns not to waver when life gets complicated.