Aho & Soldan 2: Claire Aho

Heikki Aho: Laulu meren kaupungista [A Song About the City by the Sea], FI 1950. DP: Claire Aho. Screenshot from Yle Areena. "Pääkaupunkimme Helsingin ennätettyä kypsään 400 vuoden ikään, valmisti elokuvayhtiö Aho & Soldan juhlaelokuvan syntymäpäivän kunniaksi. Mahtipontisen kauniissa elokuvassa merellisestä pääkaupungista kuljetaan ympäri Helsinkiä Ella Erosen lausunnan siivittämänä. Kameran linssin läpi kiteytetään Helsinki alle kymmeneen minuuttiin. Kallion "pauhusta ja jyskeestä, kalskeesta ja ryskeestä" saavutaan Eduskuntatalolle, jossa "sykkii ja lyö maan valtavaltimot". Helsingin maa sykkii tehtaiden ja työläisten askelten tahtiin. Rauhaa haetaan Hietaniemen hautausmaalta, alta "vanhain vaahterain, jossa lepäävät isiemme ihmiskohtalot". Isänmaan kulttuurin ylpeydet, Lönnrot, Snellman ja Kivi, ansaitsevat kunniakäynnin. Kesäinen Helsinki uhkuu energiaa, iloa ja kauneutta. Valkeisiin pukeutuneet ylioppilasneitoset marssivat sankarihaudoille ja juovat mehua Esplanadin Kappelissa. Kauempana ulapalla, lipuu yksinäinen purjevene, Suomen Joutsen." Teksti: Sanna-Katja Pohjalahti (Yle Areena).

Compiled by Ilkka Kippola, Jari Sedergren, Erkko Lyytinen, and Jarmo Nyman. 79 min. A Digibeta and one 16 mm print. Viewed at Cinema Orion (DocPoint), Helsinki, 29 Jan 2010.

Introduced by Jari Sedergren, interviewing Claire Aho, born 2 Nov 1925, who has come from Stockholm for this tribute. The bright artist is in good spirits.

The Claire Aho compilation on Digibeta:
[Claire ja elokuvakamera] [Claire and the Movie Camera] (1950), footage on Claire Aho shot by her father Heikki Aho, 3 min [with Freeplaymusic 2010]
Elokuvaaja kesälomalla [The Cinematographer's Summer Holiday] (1936), excerpts including footage on Heikki Aho the avid fisherman, the young Claire Aho clearing nets, and her grandmother, the painter Venny Soldan-Brofeldt, excerpt 5 min [with Freeplaymusic 2010]
Laulu meren kaupungista [A Song About the City by the Sea] (1950), D: Heikki Aho, DP: Claire Aho, based on a poem by Toivo Lyy, recited by Ella Eronen, music a Sibelius compilation, 11 min
Suomi - värien maa [Finland - a Land of Colours] (1951), Ministry for Foreign Affairs, PC: Aho & Soldan, DP: Claire Aho, pioneering colour views of Finland, excerpts 26 min
Muistojen kisakesä 1952 [The Memorable Summer of the Olympics 1952] (1956), Olympia Filmi, one of the cinematographers: Claire Aho, excerpts 23 min. - Fascinating aspects on the biggest Olympics so far, in Helsinki during the Cold War, with the Soviet Union participating for the first time, their Olympic Village decorated with a big portrait of Stalin. This international event was very important in Finland, which was struggling successfully to emerge from the devastation of the war and its bitter losses. Coca Cola came to Finland. But paradoxically, in Helsinki Finland lost irrevocably its status as a major country of Olympic winners (made possible also by the exclusion of many countries so far).
...
On 16 mm:
Jean Sibelius kodissaan [Jean Sibelius at Home] (1962), Sibelius-Seura esittää, P: Martti Vuorenjuuri, Claire Aho, 12 min. - Nb. there are three different Aho & Soldan films by the same name (1927, 1945, and 1962). This is the colour film, incorporating footage from the two previous ones. - I saw this film for the first time, and loved it. The excerpts from the letters and notebooks of Sibelius are selected well. - The composition is like a butterfly. If you touch it with your fingers, something is lost. Why I had to move out from Helsinki in order to concentrate on composing. - The reader is Kaarlo Halttunen. - The music was recorded in 1958, with Paavo Berglund conducting, during the Sibelius Weeks (nowadays known as Helsinki Festival). - Unfortunately, the print has turned red, and the film would be worthy for restoration.