Movie Review: Pelicanman
By Ron Wilkinson
Apr 27, 2005, 10:15 GMT
“While a dream lasts, it is not a dream,” says writer Leena Krohn about the film “Pelicanman,” and this dreamy production by director Liisa Helminen bears that out.  Featuring a first rate mimic performance by star Kari Ketonen, this story cuts through age and gender barriers with an appeal for all ages.
“Pelicanman” is a simple enough story of a pelican that decides to try living as a human.  He lands on a beach, dons some found clothing and a theme is born.  Pelicanman soon meets young supporting actor Roni Haarakangas (playing the part of Emil).  Emil notices Pelicanman having a hard time fitting in, what with eating the whole raw fish and all, and the two become close friends.
If eating raw fish in a single gulp may be poor table manners, it is nothing compared to the mess of life made by Emil’s parents.  A nice enough couple, they are splitting the sheets much to Emil’s distress.  He is looking for alternatives and the child-like naiveté’ of Pelicanman appeals.  He is joined in his secret by Elsa, played by Inka Nuorgam, who is attracted to Emil more than his pelican friend, but game for a good secret nonetheless.  The resulting hanky-panky reminds one of “ET: The Extra-Terrestrial.”  The guy is weird, but he’s OK.
The screenplay and acting of “Pelicanman” is also similar in context and pacing to Tom Hanks giant hit, “Big.”  In both of the stories the lead character gets a wish to be something else and eventually finds out that none of us can be anything other than ourselves.  In the course of discovering that basic truth, other’s lives are touched and within them a spark of the imagination is ignited.
The story-line of the naive stranger confronting “normal” human life is fruitful with opportunities for the innocent criticism of conventional civilization.  There are three kinds of people in the world, children, good adults and bad adults.  But both the good and bad adults are dumb.  Only the children haven’t lost their basic instinct about good and bad.  Pelicanman is accepted by the children because he is both a child and an adult at the same time.  He has cheated the world and kept his natural instincts while at the same time altering his appearance to societal standards.  Except for the occasional fugitive feather his act is complete.  And what an act.
This film will be especially fun for aficionados of mimicry.  Kari Ketonen is a master of the craft and impersonating a human bird gives him an ideal pulpit from which to preach the wonderfully absurd.  As in “Big,” and Hank’s more recent “The Terminal,”  he is new to this world and has to learn a step at a time.  Being able to talk to seagulls helps, especially when seeking revenge on a snooping housekeeper.  But if the plots of these films have a similar thread, Ketonen clearly outshines Hanks when it comes to the acrobatics of expression.  He is totally emotive in every scene, disciplined in his approach while playing the perfect fool.  He even sings like a bird, and the backdrop of his job as an opera stage hand makes for some playful appreciation of bird and ballet, although this meandering makes us wonder if the screenplay is giving the story body or simply filling time.  Solid, if brief, supporting roles do justice to the screenplay by giving Ketonen, Haarakangas and Nuorgam a steady, contrasting backdrop of vapid adults.
Garnering five nominations for the Finnish national Jussi and winning two, “Pelicanman” is a national hit that is flying close to American shores courtesy of the New York Tribeca film festival.  It has been shown on TV in three segments and will make a great matinee for the entire family, if it is not overshadowed by the B-52s of the Disney pixelocost.
Pelicanman is screening at the Tribeca Film Festival Sun, May 1 / 3:00pm Scholastic Auditorium with tickets at $10.00.
You can read a summary of the film in our database.
 
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