What do Finland's most famous hypnotist and its longest-serving president have in common? If I told you, I'd have to kill you... During the Cold War, Olavi Hakasalo, a.k.a. Olliver Hawk, was charming the nation with his hypnosis shows and proselytizing on the power of suggestion. At the same time, President Urho Kekkonen was ruling the country, occupying the top post for so long that his time in office was mockingly referred to as "Kekkoslovakia." But fame didn't satisfy eccentric showman Hakasalo, just as protracted power didn't placate father figure Kekkonen, and an unlikely influence passed between the men, as one's powers of persuasion and the other's authority turned towards covert operations and populism. An entrancing and nutty film that confounds the viewer's ability to differentiate between fact and fiction, The Hypnotist dramatizes the ambiguity and unreliability of personal history while showing how power can direct a person's mind. Angie Driscoll