Saturday, May 16, 2009

Rakkauselokuva

En kärleksfilm / [A Love Film] / Nothing But Love. FI 1984. PC: Reppufilmi. P+D+SC: Anssi Mänttäri. DP: Heikki Katajisto - colour - 1,66:1. M: Fernando Sur, Anssi Tikanmäki, Asko Mänttäri. CAST: Liisa Halonen (Raija Torniainen, air hostess), Antti Litja (Kalle = Kalevi Karlsson, architect), Markku Toikka (Hanski = Hannu Torniainen, construction engineer). 73 min. A KAVA print with Swedish subtitles viewed at Cinema Orion, 15 May 2009. In the presence of Markku Toikka, interviewed by Markku Varjola. - I watched just the beginning of the film. The print had scratches at least in the start. I saw the couple's attempt at making a baby, the husband Hanski's trouble in performance and sperm count ("can't do this by force"). In a party, Raija meets Kalle, an unknown, whose first words are: "Forget that man and follow me to disaster". - From Markku Toikka's long and interesting introduction: "In Anssi Mänttäri's films the actor is king. There is but a skeleton crew: the director, the cinematographer, the soundman, the lighting man." "Eero Tuomikoski taught me that in the circus you don't put two elephant numbers after another." "The actor needs to undress. He must become a perfect interpreter for the character he is playing. He needs to eliminate himself." MV: Actors are usually narcissists. You are an anti-narcissist. "We did not have many takes. Often just one take. The first take is always the best." "In a film there may be that one moment, light as a butterfly, when you forget the actor and just follow the character." "Liisa Halonen we loved. She had been a tv announcer, the most cordial person, a wonderful human being." "Antti Litja is a fine Finnish film actor. His authenticity, his credibility is astounding." "This was the time of the basement gang, Filmtotal." "We were penniless. We lived together with Matti Pellonpää in another basement on Kristianinkatu. Upstairs there was a printing press which ground porn mags at night. We threw parties downstairs." MV: you are a top comedian. Why do they always choose you for the most desperate roles, which include angst and suicide? "The minor key is hidden in a comedian's deepest being. The greatest comedians are tragic. Mikko Kivinen. Comedy is born out of failure." - I was too tired to see but the beginning of the film. - About the rest I read from Suomen kansallisfilmografia. The press release states: "This is a comedy about grown-ups falling in love, a pensive smile, the despair of an infertile man, the tragedy of a childless woman, a marriage tale, the solitude of a divorced man, a promise of tomorrow, the brusqueness of the civil servant, a triangle drama." - I read from the synopsis that Kalle, a divorced father of a 16-year-old son, makes Raija pregnant, but Raija and Hanski stay together. Kalle informs Raija of his plan to slowly kill himself by drinking, although the process is slow and uncertain. Kalle refuses to grant Raija her wish that he would recite her a poem and walks away.

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