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[Outside the Law] / Utanför lagen. FI 1987. PC: Filminor. P: Heikki Takkinen. D: Ville Mäkelä. SC: Olli-Pekka Parviainen. DP: Olli Varja. Theme song: "Sinun omasi" (Rami Sarmasto, Tamara Lund) sung by Tamara Lund. ED: Timo Linnasalo. Sound: Matti Kuortti. Starring Taneli Mäkelä (Sakari Nevalainen), Kari Heiskanen (Jari Jokela), Pirjo Luoma-aho (Saara Nevalainen), Antti Litja (Antti Kaitanen), Jouko Klemettilä (attorney Holmström), Leena Huotila (Mrs. Kaitanen). 84 min. Viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 13 September 2008. - The 25th Anniversary Film of Filminor. - In the presence of Ville Mäkelä, Timo Linnasalo, Matti Kuortti, interviewed by Markku Varjola. The only cinema film directed by Ville Mäkelä: "I made the mistake of switching into this horrible industry. Nice images for stupid stories. There was a pre-existing screenplay by Olli-Pekka Parviainen. I'm not attracted to scandal. My trusted man was brother Taneli, his friend was Kari Heiskanen, we played hockey, trained a lot. When Antti Litja was hired he had terms of his own. The film was important for him, released something in him. All locations are real." - TL: there was a chronological version first, but part of the crucial court scene was switched to the beginning on the suggestion of Antti Peippo. - VM: "The starting point was the question of taking justice into one's own hands. Rape was invented afterwards. The question of the rape is not treated properly. But it was based on Pirkko Viitala's research: rape is less a matter of sex than humiliation and degradation. Pentti Siimes refused the part of the rapist: there is enough injustice in the world, and I don't want to deal with it more." Ville Mäkelä summed up "that these were not stories for me, I did them as well as I could, but it was not from the heart". - After this introduction we saw the film that is taut and compelling. Saara Nevalainen is raped, but the rapist, Antti Kaitanen, is not convicted, as there is not enough evidence, and the whole process is extremely humiliating both for Saara and her husband Sakari. Unfortunately, there is Saara's hothead brother Jari, who provokes Sakari with him to take justice in their own hands. Mrs. Kaitanen finally confesses to the police that she had given false alibi to her husband, and she herself knows her husband to be guilty. But Jari is killed by a police sharpshooter, and Sakari gets a heavy sentence while Antti Kaitanen gets a mild one. Sakari is even committed to a prison for the mentally ill. - This is a strong and thought-provoking film, psychologically believable, and important as a social film, as it shows how justice can be derailed. Also the theme of rape is very responsibly presented, with its terrible repercussions in two families.