Ella and the big race

Shock for Ella (Freja Teijonsalo) and her friends: their little school is to be demolished and make way for a Formula 1 race track. To make this happen, the rich and unscrupulous Mr. Yksi (Kari Ketonen) has leveraged all his influence. After all, this is where his son Kimi (Oliver Kivi) and daughter Anna (Eerika Patrakka) are to be trained to become Finland's future racing elite. The students of the troublesome school are simply to be moved to a huge, overcrowded school complex in the nearest big city. This, of course, cries out for a protest from the teachers. It's just too bad that one of Ella's essays was misunderstood by the school board, after which the small school is closed and the teacher (Eero Milonoff) is arrested. Now Ella and her friends must first free their crammer from jail and then prevent Mr. Yksi from demolishing their beloved school. But they have only one, almost impossible chance: they have to win a race against the Formula 1 elite of tomorrow that he has raised. And that can't succeed, can it?

With his Ella books, former primary school teacher Timo Parvela has hit the bull's eye. The children's book series enjoys enormous popularity, and not only in his native Finland. Parvela's very special sense of humour and the endearing stories have ensured that all of the eight volumes to date have been very successful internationally and have even become school reading in Finland. So a film version of the books was naturally only a matter of time. And while the second Ella film is already being released in Finland in time for Christmas, in Germany Ella und das große Rennen is just getting underway.

The film version of the eighth is naturally tailored entirely to its young target audience. The fact that the characters are absolutely overdrawn and the humor here and there a bit too silly, is therefore not really disturbing. Because overall, the book adaptation succeeds in capturing exactly what makes the original so popular. Taneli Mustonen's film is bursting with timeless charm and original ideas, some of which are downright bizarre, without overtaxing or frightening children. The children's search for their classroom in their new school alone is so wonderfully quirky and original, which is sadly all too rare in children's films. How well this goes down with the target audience was more than evident to the children present at the press screening.

Sure, very young viewers will not get some of the innuendos and gags, as this already requires a certain understanding of irony. But that doesn't change the fact that overall Ella and the Great Race has become an endearing, funny and original children's film that understands its target audience and offers them good laughs without completely insulting their intelligence. So if you want to give your little ones some good entertainment without talking animals, 3D effects or excessive pacing, this Finnish hit movie can absolutely be recommended to you. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp