Another European film of interest landing in North America this week is the Finnish film My Friend Henry.
The film played in Toronto and is showing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (in a double feature with The Handcuff King!) on Sunday. Hopefully more widespread distribution will happen in the future. The story sounds interesting.
When 12-year-old Elsi Björkman and her mother Paula return from a week’s holiday abroad, Elsi immediately notices that someone has been in her room. She tells her mother about it, but she does not believe her. At the local supermarket Elsi meets Henry, who seems to spend his time returning shopping trolleys. Elsi does not know anything about the boy, who has an irritating habit of appearing from out of nowhere, only to disappear again, as if into thin air. Nevertheless, the children become friends.
Elsi skives off school and Henry invites her to his home. In Henry’s beautiful, quiet house they swim and grill sausages. Elsi’s mother, however, finds out what she has been up to and makes Elsi go back to Henry’s house to ensure with Henry’s parents that this does not happen again. The door of the house is opened by a woman, who does not know Henry, and the boy, who lives in the house, is certainly not Henry. No one knows anything about Henry – Elsi is the only one who has seen him.
Has Elsi made it all up? Is Henry an imaginary friend – or is he a real boy? If he is real, why does he lie about himself and his family?
Henry is played by Aleksi Rantanen.
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My Friend Henry (2004) (Read 3,422 times)
