Tom of Finland (2017): Karukoski ‘s Biopic of Finish Creator of Homoerotic Art (Gay)

Directed by Dome Karukoski and written by Aleksi Bardy, Tom of Finland is a dramatic biopic, starring Pekka Strang as Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland.

om of Finland

x
Running time	115 minutes

An innovator, Tom was a Finnish homoerotic artist, and one of the most influential and celebrated figures of twentieth century LGBTQ culture.

His distinctively stylized homoerotic drawings and illustrations were rendered in grayscale graphite, often featuring leather-uniformed men with exaggerated musculature and genitalia, suggesting, implying, and sometimes even performing sexual activities.

The movie was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II. But life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds post-war Helsinki rampant with homophobic persecution, with gay men being pressured to marry women and have children.

Touko finds refuge in a liberating art: homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhibitions. But it is only when an American publisher sees them and invites Tuoko over to the West Coast that his life really takes a turn.

Gay Directors, Gay Films? By Emanuel Levy (Columbia University Press).

Walking free and proud in Los Angeles, Tuoko dives into the sexual revolution, and in the process becoming an icon and a rallying point. His work–made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’–became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of the gay revolution.

One of Finland’s acclaimed directors, Dome Karukoski has been named one of “Variety’s” Top 10 Directors to Watch and his films have gathered numerous international awards. Winner of several Finnish National Film Awards, and Best Director for Dark Butterflies and Lapland Odyssey.

Karukoski has recently been set to direct THE STARLING starring Keanu Reeves and TOLKIEN, a biopic of J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit.

Credits

Directed by Dome Karukoski
Produced by Aleksi Bardy, Miia Haavisto, Annika SucksdorffScreenplay by Aleksi Bardy
Music by Hildur Guðnadóttir, Lasse EnersenCinematography Lasse Frank
Edited by Harri Ylönen

Distributed by Protagonist Pictures (international)

Release date: January 27, 2017 (Gothenburg Film Festival), February 2017 (general release)

Tom of Finland (2017): Karukoski ‘s Biopic of Finish Creator of Homoerotic Art (Gay)

PROFESSOR / CRITIC / AUTHOR