Tove

Director Zaida Bergroth transports audiences back to post-Second World War Helsinki for this appealing biopic of Tove Jansson, the Finnish creator of the Moomins. Charting Jansson's personal and professional struggles of the 1940s and 50s, the film finds her fighting to express herself away from the constraints imposed by her more traditional artist father. As she develops her own artistic identity, Jansson begins two separate love affairs with married people: socialist politician Atos Wirtanen (Shanti Roney) and upper-class theatre director Vivica Bandler (Krista Kosonen). There's a passionate undercurrent to each of these entanglements, but Bergroth favours restraint over melodrama, grounding Jansson's journey of self-discovery in unfussy, 16mm visuals. Alma Pöysti is engaging as the Swedish-speaking painter, and beautifully encapsulates the quietly rebellious spirit of an artist simply striving for creative freedom. While the visual depiction of her work leaves something to be desired, Tove paints a decent portrait of an artist who so often shied away from the spotlight.