Acting
“Tukkijoella” (Log River – 1928). Films of this genre gave the Finnish cinema and the viewing public one of its most popular characters – the lumberjack (tukkijatka, tukkipoika, tukkilainen) who at his most heroic hour becomes the log-roller or the shooter of rapids (koskenlaskija). The significance of this character in Finnish film is comparable to that of the Cowboy on American cinema. He is the pioneer, the wanderer, the adventurer. He negotiates the frontier, he is an embodiment of the conflict between wilderness and civilization.
A couple move to an isolated house where – according to local legend – an ancient curse is rumoured to assail its inhabitants. Based on the novel by Väino Kataja (1914).
The film starts at the countryside, where station master Viirimäki is spending his summer holiday. He has gotten into the holiday mood to the extent that he wakes up from his stupor at the very moment he should already be getting back to work. Unfortunately the last ship from the island where he has been vacationing has already sailed, but as luck would have it, local residents Himanen and Kehkonen promise to help him out. Things turn out differently, however, and the attempt to help starts out an adventure filled with misunderstandings and plot twists.
Without knowing about each other, bachelors Salomon, Arvi, and Martti each hire a domestic helper for their shared apartment. The job goes to the energetic professional Manta and the modern young women Helvi and Aili, who are looking for a position to prove their point about the issue of domestic service.
Medical student Antti Ahonen, who is fighting tuberculosis, finds himself in the middle of a love triangle with his friend Heikki Huhtamäki and his crush Helmi Hirvinen.
Jaakkola, a priest with a bad memory, gets a prescription for a spa day from Dr. Viljo. Ruustinna plans to bring her daughter Elina and the local doctor together. Jaakkola finds the mail he forgot in his pocket, including an important wedding invitation. Rovasti and Ruustinna plan to stop at the wedding on the way to the spa, but things get complicated and there are enough misunderstandings in the knots of love.
Silent military propaganda film by Erkki Karu, later followed by the musical revue film Meidän poikamme merellä ("Our Boys at Sea", 1933) and Meidän poikamme ilmassa – me maassa ("Our Boys in the Air – and We on Land", 1934), both of them also directed by Karu. The film comes with a orchestral accompaniment arranged by Raine Ampuja in 2005, based on the original score by Lauri Näre and Emil Kauppi, which in turn was based on traditional Finnish military tunes.
The first Finnish full-length feature film and the first film adaptation of Minna Canth’s play of the same name. Orphaned Sylvi is married to her older guardian Aksel Vahli, but is in love with her childhood friend Viktor Hoving. A difficult situation drives Sylv to desperate deeds. A approximately 27-minute version of the film’s surviving scenes, with the most explanatory text, has been reconstructed.
