September of 1944, a few days before Finland went out of the Second World War. A chained to a rock Finnish sniper-kamikadze Veikko managed to set himself free. Ivan, a captain of the Soviet Army, arrested by the Front Secret Police 'Smersh', has a narrow escape. They are soldiers of the two enemy armies. A Lapp woman Anni gives a shelter to both of them at her farm. For Anni they are not enemies, but just men.
A mystical fairy tale by Alexander Rogozhkin as beautiful as it is tender.
– Marta Barber,
Miami Herald,
20 Sep 2003
fresh:
A consistently hilarious collision of cultures and a string of misunderstandings.
– Roger Moore,
Orlando Sentinel,
3 Oct 2003
fresh:
Writer/director Alexander Rogozhkin has a way of lapsing into cuteness when the story calls for something more challenging, but The Cuckoo eventually finds its own kind of light, ridiculous tone that generally doesn't talk down to the characters.