The latest work by artist couple Jenni & Lauri Luhta, Jesaja is a curiously timely period piece and at the same time a curiously timeless illustration of the themes of the Book of Isaiah. The Old Testament Isaiah was a prophet who looked aghast upon the moral chaos of Judea and its people about to drift from God’s care into the darkness of Babylon’s prison.
A prophet of his kind is also the protagonist of Jesaja, Jesaja Jalonen, shuttling between dead-ends and towards alienation in 2020s Finland. The ambitious choice of subject matter is no exception for the Luhtas, seeing as the filmography of this productive duo includes films about Leonardo da Vinci’s prophecies as well as Sigmund Freud’s musings on Moses.
Jesaja provides ample material for readings and interpretations even for a secular viewer unfamiliar with the biblical Isaiah. Already during the first minutes the familiar voice of president Sauli Niinistö connects the landscape to the Covid years. The restless, occasionally avantgardistic form and the hectic urban landscape paint a picture of a modern Babel, where lost people scurry along their own mechanical routes.
Jesaja wanders and observes. The Luhtas cast a humorous, even cynical eye on worn-out political topics. In an anti-NATO demonstration, Jesaja counts the heads of participants and blusters: “No, these won’t be enough”. “Already went to shit deep enough last time”, opines the lost prophet upon passing by a voting station. (Niilo Rantala)
Language: Finnish, subtitles: English
World premiere
In the presence of Jenni and Lauri Luhta
