No matter their incidental differences, sports films tend to follow the same trajectory. We are typically paired up with an underdog, a scrappy fighter or pitcher with something to prove and watch as they either succeed or come close enough to success to experience an epiphany of some sort. Sylvester Stallone may have locked up the template with Rocky, but it’s one that’s worked for decades. There are a few that dare to subvert the expectations of the genre. For example, Anna Borden and Ryan Fleck masterfully took on the idea of failure in their baseball drama, Sugar (2008). First time director Juho Kuosmanen does something similar in The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, the true story of the Finnish boxer who lost to the American Davey Moore in two rounds during his international title bid in 1962.
Shot in black and white, The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki follows its namesake during the two weeks leading up to his fight against Moore. Olli (Jarkko Lahti), a baker from a small Finnish town (he is known as the Baker of Kokkola in the ring), is about to have the most prominent fight of his career. He is competing in the featherweight category, even though he weighs more than the class allows. Some around Olli blame this misplacement on his vainglorious manager, Elis (Eero Milonoff), an ex-fighter who had some success in the class where Olli actually belongs. Unctuous and self-serving, Elis is more concerned about bringing attention to Finland than Olli’s well-being, declaiming, “You don’t have to go to America to see a great show.” Too bad Olli is more concerned about falling in love than bringing a title home to Finland.
Kuosmanen’s film is too gentle to be classified as a drama, but its humor is too subtle to call it a comedy. Instead, we watch as Olli must contend with all the distractions that come his way leading up to the fight. From photo opportunities to meeting dignitaries to fancy dinners (which he can’t eat since he is supposed to lose a few kilograms) where he is clearly uncomfortable, Olli would rather spend time with his girlfriend Raija (Oona Airola), someone who Elis considers a distraction.
In Rocky, Stallone’s character wants to go the distance against a formidable foe. In Kuosmanen’s film, Olli isn’t convinced that winning a title will be his happiest day. Instead, he derives more pleasure from skipping rocks with Maija than rubbing elbows with his rich benefactors and representing Finland on the international stage. No matter what Olli is doing to prepare for the fight, whether it be sweating off weight in a sauna or practicing in the ring, Maija isn’t far from his thoughts.
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki quietly muses on the nature of happiness. Does one minute of glory equal a lifetime of contentment? By the time Kuosmanen gets us to the ill-fated bout, the fight has almost become an afterthought. It lasts less than five minutes. At such a small fraction of the film’s runtime, you know that the director has something completely different in mind than ending with a climactic bout. Neither tragic nor a let-down, Kuosmanen doesn’t let the fight define the film, much like when Olli Mäki would later rebound a few years later to win the European Boxing Union light welterweight title in 1964. If a little too light at times, The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki is still an appealing and harmless film that slyly subverts a genre long known for its unshakable touchstones.
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