Hyppääjä

This contemplative black and white visual poem about a 73-year-old man starts with simple shots of shining water in which we see the body of a diver. The memories of Helge Wasenius, two decades long the diving champion of Finland and Scandinavia, take us to the inner world of a man with a passion. ‘I don’t think when I jump. I strive for emptiness, I want to clear my mind of all thoughts. I want to sink to another level of existence. I feel time stop.’ This dreamlike collage of movement, music and narration portrays a man who represented Finland at two Olympic Games. The composition of each shot has been made with a special sense for finding beauty in geometrical shapes. The sound is occasionally so soft it gives the impression of coming from the underwater world. With a special talent for observation, the director portrays the atmosphere of the Helsinki Swimming Stadium. Having worked as a stuntman for many years, the old diver decides to perform his famous stunt for the last time. He hangs by his feet from the diving board and remembers his childhood fear of jumping. Back then, people called him a coward. At the end, he comes up with an amazing calculation: the time he has spent flying trough the air adds up to two hundred days.