Mother of Mine is a film that focuses on the unseen impacts of war. Eero [Topi Majaniemi] is a Swedish child sent to live in Denmark after his father dies in the war and his mother gives up on life. He is taken in by a mother who isn't excited to have him and a father who wants nothing more than for Eero to be able to adapt and thrive. He takes Eero to school where they call him the "war child" which is all he knows about his identity anymore. It takes over his life. All he imagines are air raids.
Every actor in this film is much more than capable. Personally I think the acting is the biggest strength of the entire film. Klaus Haro mixes the strength of the acting with the natural beauty and depth of the Finnish landscape.
I am in the camp of people who believe the flash forwards take away from the film more than they add. I think the story would flow better and perhaps have more impact if it weren't for the disjointed feeling the flash forwards evoke.
I think this film would make an interesting double feature with Koreeda's Nobody Knows about a mother who gives up on her children and leaves them to raise themselves without taking their lives into consideration. There are many great films about troubling childhoods. Anything from Francois Truffaut or the country of Iran would be a nice start. I will also always recommend seeing Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout as it might be my absolute favorite coming of age tale. I also am drawn to its colonizing undertones.
I think Mother of Mine fits well into the childhood genre and lives up to the high expectations I have for such films and for this film because I had heard so much positive reaction going into it.