A smart, uplifting comedy set in the dark context of the Cold War, August Fools is a marvellously multilayered story loosely based on real political events, paired with a delightful romance.
Elsa (Kati Outinen), is a middle-aged milliner and part-time clairvoyant, who is normally in full control of her life, until the man she loved 20 years ago and thought dead walks into her little hat shop in Helsinki in 1962.
The long lost love is Jan (Miroslav Etzler), a Czechoslovakian jazz musician, in town to play at the International Festival of Peace and Friendship of the Youth of the World. Initially she wants to stay away from him – but eventually she realises she still loves him, and there is only one way for them to be together…
Festival guest Laura Birn shines as the vivacious Kaarin, determined to make the most fun out of the international visitors to her town. Awash with energy and charm, this is a tribute to love—as well as a moving portrait of a tense, troubled era.
