The Finnish cinema has a long history, with first public screenings starting almost as early as modern motion picture technology was invented (the first screening in the world was in 1895, in Finland in 1896). It took over a decade before the first Finnish film was produced and screened in 1907. After these first steps of Finnish cinema, the progress was very slow. After 1907 there are periods, 1909-1911 and 1917-1918, when no Finnish films were produced. This was partly caused by the political situation, as Finland held a status as an autonomic part of Russia and was thus influenced by the worldwide political situation. The Grand Duchy of Finland (Magnus Ducatus Finlandiæ Великое княжество Финляндское ' Velikoe knjažestvo finljandskoe) was the Predecessor Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending In 1917 Finland became an independent country and in 1918 there was a civil war. A civil war is a War between a State and domestic political actors that are in control of some part of the territory claimed by the state After the political situation had settled and stabilized, the Finnish society and its cultural life began to develop. This was very clear with cinematic arts. More films were produced and they became an important part of Finnish society. The culmination of this development came soon after the silent era, around 1940-50's, when three major studios were producing films and competing for the market. When the society changed in the 1960s, partly because of political trends and partly because of new forms of leisure, like television, the appeal of films vanished, practically all studios were closed and films became political and too artistic for masses, as commercial production was deemed as a thing from the past and distateful. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Few filmmakers were opposed to this development, and kept producing popular films that were bashed by the critics but loved by the people. A new found interest for the Finnish films came in the 1990s, which was partly influenced by the new generation of filmmakers bringing in new ideas, and partly because commercial success was no longer considered to be "non-artistic", thus the commercial film projects started to receive support from the governmental funds. In the 2000s the Finnish cinema is alive and well, some films and filmmakers gaining global success and many films receiving a good response from the audience and the critics. Today, around 15-20 Finnish full-length feature films are produced every year, and the Finnish cinema is gaining new forms from the global influence, such as action and wuxia. Action movies are a Film genre where action sequences such as fights, Shootouts Stunts Car chases or explosions either take precedence Wuxia or Wǔxiá ( Mandarin ùɕiɑ̌ Hanyu Pinyin: Wǔxiá, Cantonese Pinyin: mou5 hap6 Taiwanese/Hokkien bu hiap
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History
1896–1920: Before Independence
The Lumière company screened the first moving images at Helsinki in 1896, but it wasn't until 1904 that the first films were actually filmed in Finland. It is unknown who made the first film (called Novelty from Helsinki: School youth at break), but it was shown by American Bioscope in December. The first Finnish film company, Atelier Apollo, was founded in 1906 by engineer K. E. Ståhlberg. It produced mainly documentary shorts, but also the first Finnish feature film, The Moonshiners (1907). From the very beginning, Finnish film production was centered to the country's capital, although for few years starting from 1907 there was a noteworthy company Oy Maat ja Kansat producing short documentaries in Tampere. Tampere ( ˈtɑmpɛrɛ Swedish: Tammerfors or) is a city in southern Finland located between two lakes Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi
The Moonshiners was directed by Teuvo Puro, who was also in charge of directing the first full-length Finnish feature, Sylvi, based on a play by Minna Canth. Kaarlo Teuvo Puro ( November 9 1884 Helsinki &ndash July 24 1956 Helsinki was a Finnish actor writer and director Minna Canth (born Ulrika Wilhelmina Johnsson, March 19 1844, Tampere - May 12 1897, Kuopio) was a The film was shot in 1911 with two other full-length literature adaptations, but it didn't premiere until 1913. The filmmakers didn't have enough money to send films to the nearest laboratory in Copenhagen at once, so the material remained undeveloped too long, and two out of three films were ruined.
The years following Sylvi saw the formation of the first active feature film company, Hjalmar V. Pohjanheimo's Lyyra-Filmi, which produced both short farces and "art films". Hjalmar V Pohjanheimo ( December 22 1867 Jyväskylä &ndash August 20 1936 Helsinki) was a Finnish film producer There was also an attempt to create larger-scale film production by Erik Estlander, who build a studio with glass walls and roof in Helsinki in 1916. At the end of the same year the Russian officials forbid all filming activity in Finland, so nothing much was made anymore before the country's independence in 1917.
The Finnish film industry of the first two decades of 20th century was never even near of the creativity or the produtiveness of its scandinavic neighbours, Sweden and Denmark - one might even say that it there was barely no industry or production at all. In addition, most of the footage filmed before independence is lost. Of feature films, only thirteen minutes of Sylvi still remains.
1920–1930: The Silent Years
Suomi-Filmi
It wasn't until the 1920s before regular film production started, thanks to a successful company called Suomi-Filmi (founded under the name Suomen Filmikuvaamo in 1919) and its creative leader Erkki Karu. Erkki Karu (born Erland Erkki Fredrik Kumlander) ( April 10, 1887 Helsinki – December 8, 1935 Helsinki) was Suomi-Filmi, lit Finland-Film, is a Finnish film production and distribution company established in 1919 by Erkki Karu. Suomen Filmiteollisuus (SF lit Finland's Film Industry, is a Finnish Film production company founded by Erkki Karu in 1933 Suomi-Filmi, lit Finland-Film, is a Finnish film production and distribution company established in 1919 by Erkki Karu. Erkki Karu (born Erland Erkki Fredrik Kumlander) ( April 10, 1887 Helsinki – December 8, 1935 Helsinki) was He also directed the most important films of the era and was the prime figure of Finnish cinema before his early death in 1935. His The Village Shoemakers (1923) is the essential silent masterpiece, a freshly told folk comedy after Aleksis Kivi's play with mildly experimental camerawork by German Kurt Jäger. Aleksis Kivi ( born Alexis Stenvall, ( October 10, 1834 – December 31, 1872) was a Finnish author who wrote the Other notable films by Karu include: The Logroller's Bride (1923), with superb cinematography by Jäger and Oscar Lindelöf, and also the first Finnish film distributed widely abroad; When Father Has Toothache (1923), a short and surrealistic farce; and Our Boys (1929), a patriotisic forerunner of many military farces.
Audiences of the agricultural country were affected by Suomi-Filmi's rural subjects. Dealing with deeply national countryside stories remained as company's policy through the silent era. Occasionally there were some attempts to make more urban, or more "European" films like Karu's Summery Fairytale (1925), but the public stayed away. Karu is a suburb in Abuja Nigeria. It was originally built to house the capital's civil servants and lower income families has no running water sanitation or electricity
Another important director at Suomi-Filmi was Puro, who made the company's first feature Olli's Years of Apprenticeship(1920) and one of the few Finnish horror films, Evil Spells (1927). Professional wrestling in Japan is commonly referred to as in Japanese, short for "professional An interesting oddity of the last two silent years was Carl von Haartman, a soldier and an adventurer, who had worked as a military advisor in Hollywood. Because of this he was considered capable of directing films. His two upper-class spy dramas, The Supreme Victory (1929) and Mirage (1930), were quite passable, but didn't attract the public.
Other companies
Suomi-Filmi dominated heavily the Finnish film production in the twenties: the company produced 23 out of 37 full-length feature films made between 1919 and 1930. Other companies (that appeared occasionally) seemed to vanish from Suomi-Filmi's and Erkki Karu's way after producing one or two films. Erkki Karu (born Erland Erkki Fredrik Kumlander) ( April 10, 1887 Helsinki – December 8, 1935 Helsinki) was The most important of these alternative production companies appeared during the latter half of the decade.
The German cinematographer Jäger left Suomi-Filmi, and formed his own company Komedia-Filmi. It linked with a global film trust (Ufanamet), which at the time had the most of the film distribution of Finland in its possession, thus being a great thread to Suomi-Filmi. Suomi-Filmi defended itself with national values, accusing Komedia-Filmi and Ufanamet for being foreign invaders. Luckily for Suomi-Filmi, both companies proved to be unsuccessful. Komedia-Filmi made only two films, of which the latter one, On the Highway of Life (1927, directed by Jäger and Ragnar Hartwall) is an interesting attempt to make some kind of a modern comedy.
The year 1929 saw the premiere of the first two films produced by a minor company Fennica and directed by Valentin Vaala, who was yet to come one of the greatest directors of the golden years of Finnish cinema. Valentin Vaala (born Valentin Ivanoff ( October 13, 1909 in Helsinki – November 21, 1976 in Helsinki) was a Russian When he started making the first one of these (Dark Eyes) he was only 17-years old, and his leading actor Theodor Tugai (later Teuvo Tulio) 14-years old. Teuvo Tulio ( August 23, 1912 – June 8, 2000) was a Finnish film director and actor This film and its instant remake The Gypsy Charmer were new kind, passionate dramas with clearly oriental influences. Unfortunately only the latter one has remained; the filmmakers destroyed the only negative of Dark Eyes by throwing it to the sea, because they thought the remake was far superior.
There were also enterprises to produce films outside the capital, but at least the films made in Viipuri and Oulu were too primitive to even premiere at Helsinki. No Tears at the Fair (1927) and The Man of Snowbound Forests (1928), two now vanished films produced in Tampere by Aquila-Suomi and directed by Uuno Eskola were better attempts – at least according to the contemporaries. Nothing permanent production was left in Tampere, but one of Aquila's producers, painter Kalle Kaarna, proved to be a gifted director on his own right. His first film With the Blade of a Sword (1928) was boldly advertised as a neutral story about the painful civil war of 1918, and his second film, A Song about the Heroism of Labour (1929) introduced (although quite conventionally) a new kind of proletarian hero to the public. Unfortunately these films have also vanished for good.
1931–1933: The Coming of Sound
The first experiments with sound were done by Lahyn-Filmi, a provincial company operating in Turku. The first full-length sound film with song and talk was Lahyn's Say It in Finnish (1931), directed by company's leader Yrjö Nyberg (later Norta). This lost film was more a collection of musical revue numbers than a feature.
Suomi-Filmi transformed its production from silent to sound films during the same year. The first Finnish film with soundtrack was company's Dressed Like Adam and a Bit Like Eve Too (1931), based on popular play by Agapetus. There was only music and some sound effects on the soundtrack, so company's first true sound film was Karu's talkie The Lumberjack's Bride (1931), another rural drama. Karu is a suburb in Abuja Nigeria. It was originally built to house the capital's civil servants and lower income families has no running water sanitation or electricity
1934–1939: The Golden Age
The studio system
In 1933 Karu was kicked out from Suomi-Filmi, his own company. He took his revenge by founding a new one called Suomen Filmiteollisuus, which started to use initials SF in its logo. Suomen Filmiteollisuus (SF lit Finland's Film Industry, is a Finnish Film production company founded by Erkki Karu in 1933 This company managed far better than previous attempts to compete with Suomi-Filmi, and right after couple successful comedies directed by Karu it had grown as significant as its rival. It seemed at this point to be possible only for Karu to create successful production companies in Finland.
The competition between the two companies proved to be fruitful. At the end of the decade there were about twenty full-length features made every year. The quality of the productions was high, the field of the subjects expanding and the popularity of domestic films increasing. With its own stars and creative producers, Finnish film industry began to remind a national miniature of Hollywood. Alongside with the two big studios, some minor ones did well also.
Sound had increased the public's eagerness to see domestic films. The great breakthrough for Finnish talkies came with The Foreman of Siltala Farm (1934), a well-recorded comedy by Suomi-Filmi, that was seen by over 900 000 viewers.
Suomi-Filmi
Erkki Karu was instantly replaced with Risto Orko as the head of company, a place he held until the 1990s (although this was long after the company had stopped movie-making). Erkki Karu (born Erland Erkki Fredrik Kumlander) ( April 10, 1887 Helsinki – December 8, 1935 Helsinki) was Risto Eliel William Orko (originally Nylund ( September 15, 1899 &ndash September 29, 2001) was a Finnish film producer and Orko had directed The Foreman of Siltala Farm, and he returned to directing a few times since, most notably with two historical and patriotic dramas at the end of the decade: Soldier's Bride (1938) and Activists (1939). Orko ( IPA: US /ˈɔːrkoʊ/ is a Fictional character from the popular Masters of the Universe franchise Most of his films as a director remain forgettable.
The most important director at Suomi-Filmi was Valentin Vaala, who had a stunningly creative period at the end of the 30's. Valentin Vaala (born Valentin Ivanoff ( October 13, 1909 in Helsinki – November 21, 1976 in Helsinki) was a Russian After the silent years, Vaala had directed three more films for his first company Fennica. When he started the fourth, the company went broke. Now he moved to Suomi-Filmi, and although his first movie there (Everybody's Love, 1935) was quite a modest comedy, it was very popular, and most importantly, introduced two of the most beloved Finnish stars to the public: Ansa Ikonen and Tauno Palo. Tauno Valdemar Palo (b October 25, 1908 in Hämeenlinna, Finland - d
Vaala's last Fennica-films had been urban comedies, a genre which he greatly developed at his new studio with his next two light-weighted films, Substitute Wife and Substitute Man (both 1936) . Hulda of Juurakko (1937) was far more serious attempt in the same field: a socially conscious story about a country girl who arrives to the big city, and who inevitably faces the problems of inequality between sexes. The film and its subject were greeted with huge enthusiasm by the audiences.
Vaala was also a master within the rural subjects and romantic melodramas. In 1938 he made the first and best film in the series of agrarian family saga of Niskavuori (Women of Niskavuori).
SF
After his early death in 1935, Karu was replaced by Toivo Särkkä in the head of the company. Karu is a suburb in Abuja Nigeria. It was originally built to house the capital's civil servants and lower income families has no running water sanitation or electricity Toivo Jalmari Särkkä ( November 20, 1890, Mikkeli &ndash February 9, 1975, Helsinki) born Toivo Hjalmar Silén Särkkä led SF until its bancrupcy in 1965. Särkkä was the most prolific producer and director that Finnish film has ever seen: he has way over 200 feature productions in his filmography, of which he directed 51. With Yrjö Norta, he directed most of the company's films in the 30's, including religious drama As Dream and Shadow. . . (1937) and patriotic historical film Manifest in February (1939). Särkkä's and Norta's output includes some highly popular folk comedies like Lapatossu (1937) - with beloved comedy actor Aku Korhonen - and The Regiment's Trouble Boy (1938), the model of Finnish military farce genre.
Other companies
Along with Suomi-Filmi and SF, few minor companies were able to produce many films during the golden age. With Vaala's films, these sort of local "poverty row" productions are the most fascinating films made during the 30's.
The New Wave from 1960 to 1980
A new generation of film-makers were eager to take over as the old production companies, such as Suomi-Filmi and SF, were collapsing. Risto Jarva was inspired by the French avant-garde and new wave, which developed to social realism seen in Työmiehen päiväkirja (1967), and eventually to comedies Loma (1976) and Jäniksen vuosi (1977). Risto Antero Jarva ( July 15 1934 - December 16 1977) was a Finnish Filmmaker. Avant-garde (avɑ̃gaʁd in French) means "advance guard" or "vanguard Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an Artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts Working class Jäniksen vuosi ( The Year of the Hare) refers to a Finnish book and film made in the mid-1970s Mikko Niskanen began his career back in 1962 with Pojat, starring then unknown Vesa-Matti Loiri. Pojat ("Boys" is a Finnish 1962 film directed by Mikko Niskanen. Vesa-Matti "Vesku" Loiri (born January 4 1945, Helsinki) is a Finnish Actor, Musician and Comedian Niskanen joined the new wave with Käpy selän alla (1966) and Lapualaismorsian (1967). Rauni Mollberg adapted two of Timo K. Mukka's magically realistic Lapland novels to the big screen: Maa on syntinen laulu (1973) and Milka (1983). Rauni Mollberg ( April 15 1929 &ndash October 11 2007) was a Finnish Film director who directed movies and TV movies Timo Kustaa Mukka (1944 - 1973 was a Finnish author who wrote about the lives of people in Lapland. Milka is Kraft Foods ' best-selling brand of Milk chocolate. It is sold in bar form in holiday shapes and in a variety of specialty forms
Kaurismäki Era of the 1980s
The old guard of the previous film-making generation was symbolically thrown from the throne in the beginning of 1980 by a Finnish-Soviet co-production, Tulitikkuja lainaamassa, followed by Tapio Suominen's Täältä tullaan, elämä!. Edvin Laine and Mikko Niskanen made their last movies, and the decade saw nearly 30 directorial debuts, including movies from Mika & Aki Kaurismäki, Markku Lehmuskallio, Taavi Kassila, Janne Kuusi, Matti Kuortti, Matti Ijäs, Olli Soinio, Lauri Törhönen, Claes Olsson, Veikko Aaltonen, and Pekka Parikka. Mika Juhani Kaurismäki (born September 21, 1955 in Orimattila, Finland) is a Finnish Film director. Aki Olavi Kaurismäki ( (born April 4, 1957 in Orimattila, Finland) is a Finnish script writer and Film director. Janne Kuusi (born 29 April 1954 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish Television and Veikko Aaltonen (born 1 December 1955 in Sääksmäki, Finland) is a Finnish director, editor, Sound editor
Valehtelija (1981) and Arvottomat (1982), directed by Mika and written by Aki Kaurismäki, broke the status quo in Finnish film industry by bringing back creativity and small scale production. Mika went to pursue a more traditional way of film making in his career with Klaani (1984), Rosso (1985), and Helsinki Napoli All Night Long (1987). Rosso is the major city of south-western Mauritania and capital of Trarza region Aki has taken less deviations in style and theme, and his films are known for minimalistic non-verbal communication and dead-pan delivery of dialogs. While Aki is best known for the Suomi-trilogy Kauas pilvet karkaavat (1996), Mies vailla menneisyyttä (2002), and Laitakaupungin valot (2006), his work also includes comedy such as Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989). Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Drifting Clouds ( Finnish: Kauas pilvet karkaavat) is a 1996 Finnish film directed by Aki Kaurismäki and starring The Man Without a Past ( Mies vailla menneisyyttä) is a 2002 Finnish film directed by Aki Kaurismäki and starring Markku Peltola Lights in the Dusk ( Laitakaupungin valot) is a Finnish 2006 film directed and written by Aki Kaurismäki. Leningrad Cowboys Go America is a 1989 Road movie by Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki about the adventures of a fictional Russian
From 1990s to Present
The beginning of the 1990s did not look too good to the film industry, because the national economy was on a strong decline. Film financing was not a priority to the government-backed Finnish Film Foundation, which is responsible for the majority of movie financing in Finland. The Finnish Film Foundation (Suomen elokuvasäätiö Finlands filmstiftelse is an independent foundation with the task of supporting and developing Finnish film Fortunately the situation would flip completely upside down by 1999, when nearly 30 domestic movies premiered. Poika ja ilves, Häjyt, and Kulkuri ja joutsen enjoyed over 200 000 viewers each, and helped to bring the popularity of domestic movies back to where it was a decade earlier. The Swan and the Wanderer (Kulkuri ja joutsen is the film telling the story of two very popular Finnish singer/songwriters Tapio Rautavaara ( Tapio Liinoja
Prolific directors introduced in the 1990s include Markku Pölönen, Auli Mantila, and Jarmo Lampela. A few popular genres can be identified from the last two decades. Rukajärven tie, Pikkusisar, and Hylätyt talot, autiot pihat take place during World War II. Rukajärven tie, which is also known as Ambush in English is a war movie directed by Olli Saarela. Kulkuri ja joutsen (1999), Badding (2000), Rentun ruusu (2001), Sibelius (2003), and Aleksis Kiven elämä (2002) portray the life of popular public figures in Finland. The Swan and the Wanderer (Kulkuri ja joutsen is the film telling the story of two very popular Finnish singer/songwriters Tapio Rautavaara ( Tapio Liinoja
External links
- The Finnish Film Archive
- The Finnish Film Foundation
- The Finnish Chamber of Films
- Lähikuvassa: Suomalaisen elokuvan lyhyt historia
- Finnish Film Foundation
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