Movie Review: TOM OF FINLAND (2017)

Right after watching A MOMENT IN THE REEDS, I viewed another Finnish independent movie production, TOM OF FINLAND, also released in 2017. I was impressed, moved, and admittedly relieved at how gay erotica artist Touko Laaksonen’s persona and life were thoughtfully portrayed. Seeing this fairly recent film was not only educational and enjoyable for me but elicited memories from when I was in my early and mid twenties.

It’s vague for me exactly when I first came across printed images by Mr. Laaksonen, far better known as Tom of Finland. It may have been as early as 1988, when I was still in college, though most certainly by around 1989, the year after I’d graduated. 1991 saw the publishing of the second of three retrospective books of his artwork. I certainly paged through new copies of that and his first retrospective book, published in 1988, on several occasions I happened to be in a local bookstore or one up a ways in San Francisco. The late ’80s were when I came out of the closet and began exploring my sexuality, thus rendering me extremely impressionable around Tom’s work. I think I owned either a postcard or magazine cut out of one of his drawings, letting go of it sometime during one of several moves for graduate school. Tom of Finland imagery pervaded my psyche. Even though I was not in the Leather scene and was a skinny young man, looking nothing at all like that Finnish artist’s hyper muscular, often leather clad hunks, I was very taken with their exaggerated, cartoonish mix of pretty and ultra masculine. Tom’s drawings portrayed an idyllic world of hot men sexually expressing themselves with each other in assorted places and situations, often in parks and bars. Even though and in spite of HIV/AIDS being in full swing by the time I’d started having sex with other men, the Finnish gay icon’s work affirmed my homoerotic desires, assuring me they were not only valid but also beautiful. A lot of gay men around me back then surely agreed. Even my psychotherapist at that time, a gay man in his mid thirties, acknowledged familiarity with and a respect for Tom of Finland during one of our sessions. If you were a gay or bi man, you likely knew of him. Tom’s work was a bold and welcome counterweight to so much homophobic judgment coming from assorted quarters in the world.

In late 1991 or early 1992, I watched at a local arthouse theater DADDY AND THE MUSCLE ACADEMY, a documentary on Mr. Laaksonen and his artwork. Among other things, I was pleased to find that he was quite slim in build, like me. We thin and sensitive men could imagine– specifically, fantasize about sexual freedom in the world– like any other gay or bi dude. But, Tom took this further by manifesting such fantasies and dreams of freedom and beauty on paper and, ultimately, up on screen, for me and so many others. His life came to an end in November of 1991 while mine felt like it had just begun. I was grateful back then, and remain so now, for Tom of Finland’s creative output, regardless of its arguably problematic extremes and paradoxical limitations of vision. Worthwhile art is often controversial, pointing out wonders, possibilities, and imperfections and/or challenges in life. This man’s art was and is thought provoking, not simply a turn on.

Watching TOM OF FINLAND the movie felt like a deepening of connection to, or a continuing of, a part of my own life history I just reviewed above. I resumed mentally connecting with this artist– or, I should more accurately say, with his work and certain values it expresses– I’ve long admired. I have no idea how historically accurate the screenplay is to the actual subject’s life, but I surmise that much of the narrative is true, even if, say, events were moved around, compressed, and/or embellished. The story begins during WW II, when Touko/Tom is a young man serving in Finland’s military. He begins to cruise for sex– or has long already been doing so– with other men during that time. Living in Helsinki after the war, he continues to often do so in a local park and a men’s restroom of a cocktail lounge. He draws sexualized pictures of soldiers and, later, civilian men he finds attractive. A recurring fantasy image of a tall, handsome man in leather pants, vest, and hat appears in Tom’s room now and then, showing us how the artist’s imagination is ever active. This is his specific version of the ideal man, which continues to influence gay culture, especially the Leather subculture, to this day, for better and for worse.

Seemingly sustained by cigarettes, drawing, and cruising, Tom eventually meets another attractive man (played by Lauri Tilkanen), a professional dancer, who becomes his life partner. They connect through, of all people, his sister, who is both devoted to Tom yet non-accepting of his being gay. Mr. Laaksonen’s sexual adventures and initial attempts to share his homoerotic art with others initially land him in dangerous situations in culturally conservative 1940s and 1950s Finland and Germany. But, he persists, eventually becoming known in the States through secret mail order sales of his art. Later, at least one gallery showing of his work occurs, as well as the publishing of his oeuvre in book form. We witness personal tragedies Tom faces, especially after he becomes a celebrity for 1970s and ’80s gay culture, particularly the Leather subculture.

The HIV/AIDS crisis is thoughtfully addressed without disaffirming Tom’s contribution to gay liberation and cultural identity. Life and death are constant themes in the narrative, with Tom plagued by guilt over an incident occurring when he was on active duty in WW II. Whether or not this actually happened, it makes for fascinating psychological drama. Actor Pekka Strang is excellent as the title character, looking the part similarly enough in height and lankiness, and sounding gruff voiced like him as well. With my having seen the earlier referenced documentary about Tom of Finland over thirty years ago, to me Mr. Strang effectively conveys the pensive, often sullen persona of the actual artist I remember watching up on screen during the last part of his life.

Other characters are eventually brought in with a balance of humor and respect, namely a young male couple who act as informal agents for Tom in the United States. They introduce him to the gay Leather scene in Los Angeles, possibly representing an amalgamation of several people in real life and, undoubtedly, over a longer period of time than what is shown in the movie. I felt a sense of relief and victory for Tom as he finally finds his niche. This is a man who lived with being marginalized and at constant risk of persecution for what would be the first half or so of his adult life. The movie is a mix of internal reflection (especially of flashbacks during the second World War), observation by an outsider of an often hostile world, and some occasional but beautiful cinematography of Finnish countryside. We viewers witness a man begin to “bloom” later in life (which I and others can directly relate to), him persisting at doing so with the help of his more emotionally open and expressive partner and some gay friends (including his commanding officer from his days as a soldier), all before Tom finally becomes (semi) famous. Anxious and traumatized from war and for being sexually nonconforming, Tom’s art consoles him, provides a language for him to connect with others, and gives him a sense of purpose. And Tom’s frequent cruising for sex is intimately and sensitively portrayed, something I can’t quite recall seeing before in a movie without some moralizing message implied or even directly attached. That unto itself elevates this production to another, higher level.

Regardless of historical accuracy, in overall tone TOM OF FINLAND is a well-rounded, nuanced portrayal of a complex, creative man in a historically fascinating and challenging time. The movie gracefully manages to explore some controversies– namely concerning the AIDS/HIV crisis– the artist’s work seemingly elicited or contributed to. It does so without diminishing or maligning Tom of Finland as a man, an artist, and affirming cultural-historical icon for many of us gay men.