Armi Alive! is an insightful and striking film that shows the trials and tribulations of one of Finland’s best known female entrepreneurs. The Finnish movie revolves around the portrayal of a theatre company performing a play about Armi Ratia’s life. Armi Ratia was the founder of the Finnish clothing and textile company Marimekko in 1951, based in Helsinki, the company is best known for its brightly coloured printed fabrics and classic styles. The film focuses on the years between 1949 and 1968. Revolving around Marimekko’s initial formation, its international success and Armi’s frequent rocky relationship with the company. A complex character, Armi was headstrong, bold, feisty and did anything to get what she wanted, often resorting to extreme lengths. The actress who played Armi, Minna Haapkylä, fully immersed herself into the role, to the point of struggling with the contradiction of Armi’s personality and temperament. The movie often switched perspectives from the actors performing the play to them and the director sitting around and discussing the film in between rehearsals. I found it created insight and gave a unique perspective from both angles. The concept of filming the theatre company acting out Armi’s life added an interesting and unique dimension. Though I found that the overall structure of the film was often confusing at times especially when the scenes shifted from the actual play performance to the cast talking. The production design was quite simplistic but could be forgiven seeing as the film benefited from concentrating on the beautiful prints and clothing.
There were also charming dance numbers throughout, portraying the clothes in an entertaining way instead of a plain runway show. There was a brief case of nudity and the purpose behind it was unclear but other than that the film was relatively tame. By seeing both sides of Armi, the loving side she showed towards her employees and the reckless side she cultivated through drinking and spending large amounts of money really showed a diverse perspective of this incredible and striking woman. The film allows people to gain insight into the struggles and successes of being an entrepreneur and the way in which they defined Armi and made her become one of the greatest entrepreneurs in Finland.
Published on July 24, 2015 on Indulge Magazine
Emily Facoory 