TV-Maailma (TV-World, a leading Finnish weekly) Oct 16, 1999

(of 5)

Is a spy allowed to love?

Ilkka Jarvilaturi's third feature History Is Made at Night avoids fascinatingly the standard genre cliches and succeeds in being both a black comedy and an actioner; an espionage story and a romance. Shot mainly in Helsinki, this multinational English language production is in all its aspects good work despite an aloofness or solemnness that hinders identifying with the characters. Its touch has ingredients similar to those of Jonathan Demme's Something Wild.

The McGuffin of the story that opens with a violent chase in New York is a porn video tape (with Henry Saari in action) that to everyone's surprise contains important secret codes. The tape is chased by CIA agents and their Russian counterparts alike. The key characters are Natasha from St. Petersburg (Irène Jacob) and the veteran of the field, Harry (Bill Pullman), in love with each other already as the story opens. From opposite camps, they are occasionally forced to forget their relationship.

Harry dreams of leaving espionage and becoming a full time jazz impresario. Natasha has problems with her work motivation as well with her country in its current dire straits. The film is not some low-budget version of Bond-fireworks, but an adventure that has true relationships.

As the film was shot in the winter, top French DP Michel Amathieu's (Doberman, L.A. Without a Map, Black Cat, White Cat) camera shows Helsinki in beautiful but often dark light. Jarvilaturi has filled the screen with a lot of meaningful details, one leaving vivid memories was the inventive use of a jukebox among other things as a ball and chain.

The film portrays its principals in an everyday light. Despite running around naked "making history" Irène Jacob is not the dazzling beauty of Kieslowski but rather the girl next door. Finnish actors (Vesa-Matti Loiri among others) spice up the story with local color.

Direction: Ilkka Jarvilaturi Screenplay: Patrick Amos DP: Michel Amathieu Production Design: Zoe Macleod Music: Courtney Pine Editing: Alan Strachan Cast: Bill Pullman (Harry), Irène Jacob (Natasha), Bruno Kirby (Max), Glenn Plummer (Dave), Udo Kier (Bliniak), André Oumansky (Yuri), etc. 120 min. 7 prints. Premiere 22.10.