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| Ari Matikainen: Tiedustelijat / Spy from a Distance (FI 2024). The actor Joonas Saartamo incarnates his grandfather Hannes Vehniäinen, an officer in special reconnaissance units in long range patrols (kaukopartio). |
FI 2024
Ohjaus: Ari Matikainen
Language: Finnish
89 min
Distributor: Cinemanse with Swedish subtitles by Monica Ödahl Åminne.
Love & Anarchy: 37th Helsinki International Film Festival (HIFF): Pohjolan huiput
La 21.9. klo 16.30–17.59
In the presence of Ari Matikainen, Joonas Saartamo and Mikko Porvali, hosted by Matti Rämö.
Viewed at Kinopalatsi 2, Helsinki, 21 Sep 2024
Mikko-Oskari Koski (HIFF 2024): "Sukututkimusta ja jännityselokuvan elementtejä yhdistelevä dokumentti tutkii kaukopartiomiesten roolia Suomen sotahistoriassa."
"Näyttelijänä ja muusikkona tunnetun Joonas Saartamon vaiheikas tutkimusretki isoisänsä Hannes Vehniäisen sodanaikaisiin toimiin muodostuu Ari Matikaisen ohjaamana dokumentin ja seikkailudraaman yhdistelmänä kiintoisaksi kokonaisuudeksi. Saartamon lisäksi myös historioitsija ja elokuvan toinen käsikirjoittaja Mikko Porvali tuo tarinaan omakohtaisen tulokulmansa, onhan isoisillä ollut yhteistä sotapolkuakin."
"Vehniäisen toiminta toisen maailmansodan aikana tiedustelu-upseerina on vuosikymmenten mittaan ollut jos ei täysin vaiettu, niin eipä erityisen kovaäänisesti kuulutettukaan seikkailu. Saartamon kohtaamiset pienistä palasista pikku hiljaa koostuvan tarinan kanssa ovat inhimillisiä. Leffan nimelle Tiedustelijat saadaan kiintoisa kaksoismerkitys, kun sukututkimukseltakin näyttävät lähtökohdat kasvavat kiintoisaksi draamaksi kahdella tasolla." Mikko-Oskari Koski
Production notes: "Genealogy meets thriller in this documentary that explores the role of military reconnaissance in Finnish war history."
"Please note the film doesn’t have English dialogue nor subtitles!"
"The significance of the WWII intelligence officer’s secret past begins to be revealed as his grandson begins to investigate his family’s history and his grandfather’s international espionage networks. As the mystery unfolds, it becomes clear that the grandfather had to work under the constant threat of the Soviet Union, delivering his findings first to Germany and its allies and, after the war, to NATO."
"The film also paints a startling picture of Finland’s role as a playing field for international espionage. The protagonist’s observations of the secrets that have been passed down through generations help us reflect on our own safety today. Have we learned anything in this changed world?" Production notes
"Kaukopartio" in Swedish: "fjärrpatrull", in English: "long range patrol".
AA: Ari Matikainen has directed a series of remarkable documentary films including Lone Star Hotel, Russian Libertine and Karpo. A film of particular gravity was War and a Peace of Mind, the first Finnish war film to explore post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as its main theme.
Tiedustelijat is a case study around the same topic. It is safe to say that in Finland that topic concerns everybody. We fought four wars in the 20th century, and in a cross-generational PTSD sense none of them is over.
The protagonist is the actor Joonas Saartamo determined to make sense of repressed memories in his own family, the undiscussed secrets and traumata. He is searching for the story of his grandfather, a war veteran who fought in a special reconnaissance unit in WWII. By definition everything he did was confidential.
During the Cold War, documents were destroyed or hidden, and much remains confidential. But in the movie we have access to private wartime correspondence (which was of course censored) and official records.
A main participant is Mikko Porvali, a Detective Chief Inspector of the Finnish Police, an authority in the history of Finnish military intelligence and the chairman of the society guarding the legacy of the long range patrol veterans (by now all dead). A grandson of East Karelian evacuees, his grandfather was a border guard on the Karelian Isthmus.
The adventures of long range patrols have been the stuff for popular fiction and non-fiction for decades, but as far as I can recall there has been only one feature fiction film on the subject, Hopeaa rajan takaa (1963) directed by Mikko Niskanen.
Now Ari Matikainen brings to the popular genre a similar turn like he did for war stories in general in War and a Peace of Mind. He puts in focus the psychological toll for the fighters and their families - across generations.
Family memories, photo albums and montages of photographs bring back forgotten stories and memories. Photographs may have been published in books and online, but seen on a big cinema screen the impact is different, more powerful. Details emerge in another way from pictures that at the time were usually seen in small format.
These are stories of war but also of love for the country, for the families and camaraderie between brothers in arms. They were not expendable. When a brother in arms dies, there is concern for the family, and in certain cases, the widow could be employed by the defense forces in civilian duties. The concern never ends. The film starts with a moving sequence in which the remains of three soldiers retrieved from the other side of the border are buried with honours in the Lepola war veteran cemetary in Lappeenranta.
Contributors on screen also include Raija Ylönen-Peltonen and Heidi Ruotsalainen (National Archives of Finland), Mika Wist, Jari Koponen, Enrico Annus, Matti Saartamo and Pirjo Tuhkasaari. They are experts, relatives and therapists.
Tiedustelijat is a film of lasting value.
...
A startling aside: Mikko Porvali mentioned in passing that while there are no gaps in official records from wartime, from the recent decades, due to government austerity measures, only records from every ten years are stored.
He also mentioned the amazing storage of data retention and personal information kept by Californian IT behemoths, including our exact location data history with an accuracy of 5 centimeters.
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