One Last Deal

Olavi is an old art dealer. His small shop can no longer stand in the shadow of the big firms and he is thinking of retiring. At an auction he sees a painting nobody is paying attention to and becomes convinced it is worth far more than it has been priced at. He has no money, no proof, and the only help within reach comes from a family he has not spoken to in years. Klaus Härö directed this Finnish film from a screenplay by Anna Heinämaa, and it screened at the Toronto Film Festival in 2018. The painting is thought to be the work of a Russian master; the film does not turn that into a detective story. Heikki Nousiainen plays Olavi without any large gestures. What it is really about is not the value of the painting but a man wanting to be proved right once more at the end of his life, and showing that to his family.