[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cuckoo_kukushka.png]]

''Kukushka'' (Cuckoo) is set in September of 1944, a few days before Finland pulled out of the Second World War, featuring three main characters and a very [[LockedInARoom unusual twist on a trope]].

The paths of a runaway Finnish sniper (Veikko) and a condemned Soviet captain (Ivan) accidentally converge at the farm of a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sámi Sámi]] woman (Anni). None of the three [[FunWithForeignLanguages speaks the others' languages]] (Finnish, Saami and Russian), and the men are hostile toward each other. To the woman, however, they are not enemies - just men.

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!!This movie provides examples of:
* ActualPacifist: Veikko. It's not that he won't defend himself ([[GoodIsNotSoft he's pretty good at it]]), but he really doesn't want to fight or harm anyone.
* AggressiveCategorism: Ivan's bread and butter, even when it makes no sense whatsoever and is actively counter-productive in the situation he's in. He keeps dismissing Veikko and his attempts to communicate, never stops calling him "Fritz" and keeps taking him for a fascist, even if the Finn makes it crystal clear (and ''despite'' the monumental LanguageBarrier between them) he's neither.
* AllGermansAreNazis: The setting being [=WW2=] and Ivan being a Soviet soldier, the attitude is expected. Problem is, Veikko isn't even German to begin with.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Splats into the LanguageBarrier, but still:
-->'''Veikko:''' (to Ivan, after being attacked, yet again, for no reason) How can I explain anything to you if you don't want to understand?
* BedouinRescueService: Anni, upon realising Ivan is still alive, drags him all the way to her hut.
* BilingualDialogue: For almost the entire duration of the movie; it's worth watching for this alone, as it's done very well.
* BrickJoke: Since Ivan never explained his name to her, [[spoiler: Anni ultimately named one of the boys "Psholty"]].
* ChainedToARock: As a punishment for insubordination, the retreating Germans chain Veikko to a rock in a highly visible spot. He's given a sniper rifle to defend himself, but they clearly expect him to die and draw the attention of the Soviets on their backs. Later he compares himself to Prometheus.
* DeathSeeker: Ivan is a melancholic who's spent the last couple of years fighting a war and has nothing and no one to live for. Therefore, he would be glad to have someone just cut his suffering short.
* DirtyCoward: The young lieutenant instantly ducks when two planes fly over him. Planes that are on ''his'' side.
* DoubleMeaning: The title refers both to Veikko (a sniper firing from a vintage point) and Anni (her real given name).
* DueToTheDead: After finding a crashed Soviet jeep, Anni closes the dead driver's eyes and proceeds to bury the casualties - after [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe collecting them into a single pile]] first.
* EatingTheEyeCandy: Anni convinces Veikko to give her his clothes for cleaning. But her real goal is to get him undressed and check him out.
* EnemyMine: Both Veikko and Ivan eventually adopt this attitude towards each other, while living with Anni, to make life more bearable for the three of them.
* EnsignNewbie: The Soviet political officer has been on duty for ''a week''. He's absolutely green in all things military and quick to panic, but still acts smug around Ivan.
* EntertaininglyWrong: For just one example, when Anni tells [[spoiler:her sons about their fathers]] she doesn't know [[spoiler:that Ivan was the one who shot Veikko]].
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: While Anni is very open about her sexual needs, not even requiring words, and Ivan can tell it a mile away, Veikko remains oblivious until he's nearly dragged into her bed.
* FriendOrFoe: The Soviet pilots take the jeep below for an enemy, open fire and bomb the hell out of it, killing the driver and the lieutenant while dazzling Ivan.
* FunWithForeignLanguages
** Early on, Veikko asks Ivan about his name. The Russian, viewing him as an enemy, answers "Пошëл ты" (''Poshyol ty'' - "Get lost"). The Finn takes on calling him Psholti (sometomes subtitled as "Gerlost"). Ivan doesn't reveal his name until they part ways and even then Veikko jokingly calls him "Psholti Ivan".
* GuileHero: After being chained to the rock, Veikko needs about five seconds to figure out how to free himself using nothing but the supplies at hand. Throughout the story, he remains the more sensible of the male duo.
* GilliganCut: Veikko reassures the German and Finnish soldiers it would be dishonourable to shoot them InTheBack, but the very first thing he does is to grab his rifle, reassemble it and aim at them. Luckily for everyone, they've managed to hide by then.
* GreenEyedMonster: Ivan gets jealous about the attention Anni's giving Veikko. They even have a "conversation" about it.
* HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier: Eventually Anni calls Veikko ugly, smiling all the while and secure in her knowledge that he'll take it for a praise.
* IHaveManyNames: Her husband called her Anni (suggesting he might not be a Saami), people call her Laame, but her parents named her Cuckoo.
* IKnowYourTrueName: When introductions are made, Anni invokes this trope.
* TheImmodestOrgasm: To the point Anni warns guys beforehand that she's loud like an animal, [[LanguageBarrier for what good it does]].
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Anni has no problem whatsoever with nudity, being a highly practical Saami and all that.
* {{Irony}}: Anni is horny due to not having had a man for 4 years... and when she starts getting pushy towards Veikko, he ignores her, while mentioning he hadn't been with anyone for 2 months, so she shouldn't be tempting him.
* LanguageBarrier: Veikko is a Finn. Ivan is a Russian. Anni is a Saami. None of them speaks a word of the others' languages. Ironically, Veikko does speak two foreign languages (German and Swedish) that are no good in his situation, as the entirety of Ivan's German is "stop, hands up, please (for) a cigarette".
* LockedInARoom: Without meaningful conversation!
* LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: Veikko is given a rifle, a couple of bullets, a water canister, a tin opener and his glasses. Just enough to free himself from being ChainedToARock.
* LostInTranslation: Cuckoo is a Russian slang term for a sniper. Since it's the ArcWord of the story, some of the translations lose an important part of the meaning in translating it straight as "sniper" (e.g. the official English subtitles).
* MacGyvering: Using a tiny bonfire (started with a magnifying glass made out of his PurelyAestheticGlasses, tree sap and water) and his water supply, Veikko keeps cracking chunks of the rock around his chain, by heating the stone and then cooling it. Then he uses his ammo reserve to finish the job and some good old-fashioned bashing to get the wedge out. Notably, this is all he does to free himself - he gets to work with a fully formed plan.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Anni's ritual to bring Veikko back from TheUnderworld. The film keeps changing perspective between the events in her hut and what Veikko is experiencing, but his vision can be also interpreted as DyingDream or even a simple coma.
* MilesGloriosus: Ivan brags about his poetry and his fighting prowess. While we never get to see his creative side (ThePoliticalOfficer considered it utter trash, which doesn't necessarily mean anything), when he tries to fight Veikko, he's repeatedly beaten back without any effort.
* MockMeal: Anni literally adds sawdust to flour because of shortages, but explains that, when you disregard the taste, it's not that bad. Thankfully, nobody can understand what she's saying nor realises why she's sawing off pieces of a log.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Once Ivan realises the cease-fire has been signed - meaning he just shot Veikko for no reason.
* NarratorAllAlong: [[spoiler: At least part of the story is [[FramingDevice Anni telling her sons how she met their fathers]]]].
* NationalStereotypes: Russians, [[SelfDeprecation about themselves]]. For the most part Ivan is a toxic asshole, who despite being saved, well-treated by the others and never attacked in any way, keeps antagonising everyone around him for no real reason. Best exemplified in the (in)famous introduction scene. The director himself noted Russia is probably the only country where you could get a reaction like that when a friendly person asks for your name.
-->'''Veikko:''' (pointing at himself) Veikko. (Points at Ivan, asks in Finnish) You?
-->'''Ivan:''' (in Russian) Get lost.
* NeverTrustATitle: Partially LostInTranslation for people unfamiliar with Russian. Kukushka (or cockoo) refers to a sniper on a vintage point. So the film opens with a Finnish sniper, ChainedToARock. And that's about where the sniper reference or importance for the story ends.
* NoodleIncident: We never learn exactly what either of the men did to end up in trouble in their respective militaries, aside that they both said something out loud that they shouldn't have.
* ThePoliticalOfficer: The lieutenant in the opening, seen right in the middle of sending Ivan to be court-martialled.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Narrowly averted. Since Ivan does his very best to ''not'' communicate with Veikko, he eventually shoots him just as Veikko is about to give him a note saying Finland signed a cease-fire.
* {{Psychopomp}}: The fair-haired boy in white. Veikko, not understanding what's going on, follows him until Anni really starts to get desperate with her ritual. Notably, the boy doesn't force Veikko into anything and only ever tries to get the Finn back on track once.
* PurelyAestheticGlasses: When he enrolled to a university in Stockholm, Veikko started wearing a pair to look smarter and get less crap for being a Finn. They end up saving his life, which he loudly "discusses" later.
* RightThroughTheWall: Happens twice, no less.
* RobbingTheDead: After a quick examination, Ivan decides ThePoliticalOfficer who's been escorting him has better boots, so he "trades" with him.
* SacredHospitality: The reason why Anni even bothered to help both men, despite being short-strung for food herself. She doesn't even question her actions or complains about it, just informs them she can't give them more to eat.
* SceneryPorn: All those long, lingering shots of the Petsamo region.
* SeenItAll: Anni remains absolutely unfazed by anything, be it war, strangers, dead bodies, inability to communicate, biological needs - really, anything.
* ShellShockedVeteran: Whatever happend to Ivan prior, it made him completely indifferent about his own life and deeply melancholic.
* ShootOutTheLock: Defied. When trying to shoot the chain off, all Veikko achieves is tiny bits of cracked stone hitting his ankle.
* ToiletHumour: There is ''no'' toilet. Anni and Veikko take turns exchanging remarks about Ivan being in the wrong spot, while he's burning red with shame about others watching him, but the laxative he was given makes him unable to move away.
* TheUnderworld: Saami version of it is presented: a weird place with barren hills, where sounds are disorted and wind never blows.
* WeaponForIntimidation: Since Veikko used all his ammunition up to free himself, his rifle is now empty. Also, he's an ActualPacifist. Ivan doesn't know about the first and can't understand the second.
* WomenAreWiser: The two men keep getting into fights (which Anni has to break), are incapable of fending for themselves in the wilderness (so Anni has to care for them), and generally just eat too much and talk too loud (so she has to feed them extra and endure the noise).
* YouNeedToGetLaid: Rather ''I'' Need to Get Laid - after four years away from her husband, Anni is starved for sex and quite unsubtle about it.
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