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The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki Movie Review

The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki is a 2016 Finnish biographical drama film directed by Juho Kuosmanen and starring Jarkko Lahti. It’s a solid, charming biopic.

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“Do you think we’ll be like them?

You mean old?

Yes, and happy.

Of course we will“

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Famed Finnish boxer Olli Mäki loses a fight for the world championship in the second round by knockout in front of a packed stadium. This is a standard biopic in its narrative. It has those trappings and conventions that all biographical movies have, so this is why I did not find it great, though it is very solid for sure. The overall storyline was overly simplistic and the boxing scenes were not particularly engaging to me.

But I adored the romance. This is where the movie worked for me the most as it was so sweet and tender. In particular, the ending is amazing. The two walk by an older couple and comment whether or not they will be happy like them in the future. It is a meta ending given that the older couple is a real-life couple of these characters, leading to one truly memorable, beautiful finale.

Jarkko Lahti is very good in the main role of the titular Olli Maki. He is charismatic and his looks fit the role. However, the character hasn’t gotten the biggest personality and I simply found him boring to be honest. He is at his best when he is with his girlfriend, Raija. They are great together, but individually they should have been better developed.

The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki wears its influences proudly on its sleeves. It is evident from the very first shot that it tries to emulate sixties cinema, especially the French New Wave. The black-and-white cinematography very much has that 60s look to it and I found that fitting given that it depicts this time period. The photography here is absolutely superb with some imagery being downright artistic in quality. I also found the direction solid, but the dialogue was overly sparse for me. It is like a French movie of the sixties for better and for worse as it’s quite slight in terms of storytelling and themes.

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The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki wears its influences proudly on its sleeves. Its artistic black-and-white cinematography and the naturalistic, sensual approach to storytelling evoke sixties cinema, especially the French New Wave. With such an influence came also the baggage of sparse dialogue, typical biographical conventions and weaker characterization. The romance, though, works entirely and that ending is immensely beautiful.

My Rating – 3.5