Le cracheur de feu

Born in Helsinki during World War II, twins Helena and Irene are abandoned by their mother Sirkka to their Communist grandmother as she flees with a German soldier. After Stalin and their grandmother die, the eight-year-olds enter an orphanage. Sirkka returns with Spanish trapeze artist Ramon scouting for a German circus. He trains Irene into a star on Central European tours until exhaustion causes her fall. Helena, secretly skilled in fire-eating, bears the burden of her mother and sister until violence separates them. In present-day Helsinki, middle-aged Helena confronts her past, ends her hatred, and accepts responsibility for another.