Those
Scandinavians are so progressive and permissive—especially an old leftie like
Raimo, but his new next door neighbor will really put him to the test. Miku is
the bigamist leader of a satanic sex cult, but he looks like a Juggalo, which
would be even worse. Time will tell whether Raimo learns to set aside his
prejudices and join the sinister orgies or remains a middle-aged fuddy-duddy in
Teemu Niukkanen’s Fucking Bunnies,
part of the Midnight Shorts Program screening at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
Raimo
goes out of his way to be nice to the minorities who work in his public housing
project, as well as the junkies who crash outside. Yet, Miku is just too much
for him to deal with. Despite his KISS-style face paint and loud parties, everybody
seems to think Miku is a heck of a guy, including Raimo’s wife. To make things
particularly awkward, both are experienced squash players in need of partners.
His wife keeps pushing him to make nice with Miku, but Raimo just can’t do it—and
can you blame him?
Bunnies is a bold satire—arguably
too bold for its own good. Obviously, it wants to make a statement about
tolerance and xenophobia, especially in light of the refugee humanitarian crisis/invasion,
but it is perfectly appropriate for Raimo to be appalled when he finds Miku
engaging in wet, messy S&M sex in the basement storage area. (seriously,
most of Europe’s “new immigrants” wouldn’t cotton to that either, but they
might be okay with Miku’s twenty wives).
Bunnies could well have
the opposite effect than Niukkanen intended, but at least it is funny (which is
more important from a viewer’s perspective). As Raimo, Jouko Puolanto is a generous
straight man, while Janne Reinikainen’s Miku is completely nuts. The glaring
contrast between them is a solid comedy bedrock. Niukkanen and co-screenwriter
Antti Toivonen are not afraid to push the boundary of propriety. We have to
admire their chutzpah, even though it probably undermines the teaching moments.