
Matti Kassila
Directing
Biography
Matti Kassila was born on January 12, 1924 in Keuruu, Finland as Matti Uolevi Kassila. He was a director and writer, known for Gas, Inspector Palmu! (1961), The Stars Will Tell, Inspector Palmu (1962) and The Harvest Month (1956).
Known For

The title of the Finnish film Elokuu translates to August. Directed by Matti Kassila, one of Finland's premiere filmmakers, Elokuu was adapted from a novel by Nobel prize winning finnish author F.E. Sillanpää. Simply put, the story concerns the decline and fall of a once-proud family, thanks to the alcoholism of its paterfamilias. Toivo Makela delivers a powerfully effective performance as the inebriated protagonist, avoiding the usual "drunken" cliches. The overlong running time, coupled with the downbeat nature of the subject, limited the film's worldwide appeal.
The Harvest Month

A TV reporter is murdered when he is eavesdropping on a secret Finnish-Soviet conference. The National Broadcasting Corporation enlists the help of police lieutenant Palmu, who comes out of retirement for this case. However, some have their doubts about the loyalities of Palmu, seeing that he was spotted in a diplomatic soiree in Moscow just a few weeks before the murder.
Vodkaa, komisario Palmu

A closed room mystery begins when an infamous tycoon is found dead in his bath tub. The famous police lieutenant Palmu is summoned to investigate.
Inspector Palmu's Error

The story of Finnish singer Abraham 'Aappo' Ojanperä, who was born in the late 1850s. On his journey from a crier boy from Liminga to an international singing star, Aappo never forgets his first love Katri, who faithfully waits in Liminga for his return.
Ruusu ja kulkuri

Two young lovers, Anna and Martti, are split apart but are reunited many years later when their lives have changed considerably. Anna is a war widow; Martti a writer, is married, and has five children.
Ihmiselon ihanuus ja kurjuus

Asko Mertanen is a waiter who is very interested in shooting. He gets fed up how the things are run in Finland, so he thinks that the best way to change them is to shoot the Finnish president.
Farewell, Mr. President

"Mussu" Koikkalainen, a country boy moves to town to find a job. He finds it and is even promoted to head of complaints department. But little he knows.
Syntipukki

Strong women take care of the property while the men focus on chasing women.
Loviisa – Niskavuoren nuori emäntä

A film group is making movie in the little town. Writer Pentti Töysä interrupts film group's press conference and claims that script is written by him and it is based on true story. Töysä also says that he has written a new ending to the movie and that it reveals an old murder. Not everyone is happy about the new twist.
Kaikki pelissä

A story of an escaped convict and some funny side stories during the Finnish summer, some stolen clothes and some summer romance thrown in.
Aatamin puvussa… ja vähän Eevankin

The everyday life of the small village is mixed when a fire breaks out the night after the party. The cooperative manager and fire manager alerts the young judge Heiki to the extinguishing work, but due to the confusion, extinguishing the fire turns out to be more complicated than expected.
Hilmanpäivät

Ilona, a young teacher, arrives in a village in Tavastia. She and Aarne, the wealthy owner of the Niskavuori farm, who is frustrated with his marriage, fall in love. The relationship becomes a public secret. Aarne's wife Martta, who owns half of Niskavuori, wants to hold on to her husband until the last. For Loviisa, the matriarch of Niskavuori, the most important thing is the reputation and honor of the family.
Niskavuori

Täällä Pohjantähden alla is based on the book with the same title. It is a story of the little village. The movie starts in the 1890's and it ends to the Finnish civil war in 1918. Story concentrates around a tenant farmer family, although it gives us a good look at the society at whole. While the class struggle depends, people of the village are driven to bloody civil war.
Here, Beneath the North Star

Two children get involved in the adventure as the bustling caretaker Mrs. Aaltoska and crime reporter "Hawkeye" Lipponen start chasing the mysterious criminal league.
Aaltoska orkaniseeraa

The story follows Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim and Quartermaster General Airo at the Finnish Defense Forces headquarters in Mikkeli during the decisive moments of the Continuation War in the summer of 1944. With a major offensive on the Karelian Isthmus imminent, Airo gives the order to attack without consulting the commander-in-chief.
Päämaja

Radio reporter Toivo Teräsvuori gets an idea for an experimental report using a hidden microphone, but he is reported as a madman talking to himself and is taken to the Houruniemi mental hospital. At the hospital, the volatile Toivo is considered insane, and even his wife Eila's testimony does not help the matter. Instead, Professor Piukka orders Toivo to undergo brain surgery.
Radio tulee hulluksi

Documentary about Finnish film theaters - about their past, disappearance and future. And at the same time universal story how cinema is undeniably connected with life.
Temples of Dreams

A man's body is found on Tähtitorninmäki in Helsinki. Palmu starts to investigate the case, but the scandalous newspaper story causes problems for the police.
Tähdet kertovat, komisario Palmu

The boyish, temperamental chemistry student Elsa Kassel disapproves of her mother and sisters running after men, but when she hears that she's referred to as "ugly Elsa", she takes on a transformation. The new, charming Elsa tests her attractiveness on men and causes confusion all the way to her mother's new groom, Professor Harjula.
Ruma Elsa

Sammeli from Näljängä and Einari from Haataja, who were hunting bears, encounter Natalia, a cow that has crossed the eastern border. In the name of friendship between neighboring countries, Natalia is asked to return to the Soviet Union.