Aalto ELO Film School: 2025 Spring Show of New Student Films

The Helsinki Effect

Arthur Franck: The Helsinki Effect (FI 2025). © Polygraf Oy

FI/NO/DE © 2025 Polygraf Oy / Kloos & Co / Indie Film AS. EX: Sandra Enkvist, Arthur Franck.

    A documentary film. A montage film. List of sources detailed at Elonet: The Helsinki Effect.

    D+SC+ Narrator: Arthur Franck. Graphic design: Antti Uotila. M: Uno Helmersson, Patrik Andrén. S: Yngve Leidulv Sætre, Thomas Angell Endresen. ED: Markus Leppälä, Arthur Franck. Special acknowledgement: Eva Andberg (YLE Arkisto). Special acknowledgement: United States Department of State (memos 1969-1975).

    Subtitles: Aretta Vähälä, Carita Collins.

    88 min

Gala premiere: 3 Feb 2025 Finlandia Hall, opening of the OSCE, Helsinki

Festival premiere: 19-30 March 2025 CPH:DOX / DOX:AWARD Competition, Copenhagen

Finnish premiere: 11 April 2025 - distributor: Elokuvatuotantoyhtiö Polygraf Oy

Viewed on Sunday 18 May 2025, Kinopalatsi 6, Kaisaniemenkatu 2, 00100 Helsinki

CSCE = Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (1975)

OSCE = Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, originating in CSCE (1975).

PROTAGONISTS: THE HEADS OF STATE AT THE CSCE / OSCE IN 1975 (from Wikipedia):

Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

Erich Honecker, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany

Gerald Ford, President of the United States

Bruno Kreisky, Chancellor of Austria

Leo Tindemans, Prime Minister of Belgium

Todor Zhivkov, Chairman of the State Council of Bulgaria

Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Makarios III, President of Cyprus

Anker Jørgensen, Prime Minister of Denmark

Carlos Arias Navarro, Prime Minister of Spain

Urho Kekkonen, President of Finland

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, President of France (who also serves as Co-Prince of Andorra however no such function at all is mentioned in the declaration)

Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Konstantinos Karamanlis, Prime Minister of Greece

János Kádár, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party

Liam Cosgrave, Taoiseach of Ireland

Geir Hallgrímsson, Prime Minister of Iceland

Aldo Moro, Prime Minister of Italy

Walter Kieber, Prime Minister of Liechtenstein

Gaston Thorn, Prime Minister of Luxembourg

Dom Mintoff, Prime Minister of Malta

André Saint-Mleux, Minister of State of Monaco

Trygve Bratteli, Prime Minister of Norway

Joop den Uyl, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

Edward Gierek, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party

Francisco da Costa Gomes, President of Portugal

Nicolae Ceaușescu, President of Romania

Gian Luigi Berti, Captain Regent of San Marino

Agostino Casaroli, Cardinal Secretary of State

Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden

Pierre Graber, President of the Swiss Confederation

Gustáv Husák, President of Czechoslovakia

Süleyman Demirel, Prime Minister of Turkey

Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia

PROMOTION MATERIAL FOR THE OSCE, FINLANDIA HALL, 3 FEB 2025

50th Anniversary of the CSCE. Opening of Finland's 2025 chairmanship of the OSCE (chairman-in-office: Elina Valtonen, Minister for Foreign Affairs)

Suomi toimii tänä vuonna Euroopan turvallisuus- ja yhteistyöjärjestön (Etyj) puheenjohtajana. Tänä vuonna tulee myös kuluneeksi 50 vuotta Etykin konferenssista ja Helsingin päätösasiakirjan allekirjoittamisesta Finlandia-talossa Helsingissä.

ELOKUVA

Arthur Franckin ohjaama ja käsikirjoittama The Helsinki Effect on satiirista huumoria ja yllätyksellisiä tarinankerrontatapoja sisältävä kotimainen dokumenttielokuva. Etyk oli lähtölaukaus kommunistisen autoritaarisen hallinnon hitaalle mutta varmalle romahtamiselle Itä-Euroopassa. The Helsinki Effect kertoo kylmän sodan loppumiseen suuresti vaikuttaneesta Etyk-prosessista ja valaisee salaisia huipputason keskusteluja suljettujen ovien takana, tekoälyllä toteutettujen äänisimulaatioiden kautta.

SYNOPSIS

On elokuun ensimmäinen päivä 1975, ja kolmekymmentäviisi maailman johtajaa istuvat rivissä Finlandia-talolla valmiudessa allekirjoittamaan Helsingin päätösasiakirjaa. Vuosia kestäneiden kireiden ja uuvuttavien neuvottelujen jälkeen mm. Gerald Ford, Leonid Brezhnev, Harold Wilson, Erich Honecker, Olof Palme, ja Josip Broz Tito ovat saapuneet pääkaupunkiimme Euroopan turvallisuus- ja yhteistyökonferenssin viimeistä vaihetta varten. Heitä isännöi uransa huipentumaa elävä presidentti Urho Kekkonen. Kaikista onnellisin on Neuvostoliiton pääsihteeri Leonid Brezhnev, sillä konferenssi ja sen tuottama sopimus on hänen lempilapsensa. Etykin perintö oli alusta alkaen kiistojen ja ristiriitojen tahraama. Useimmat kriitikot, mukaan lukien skeptinen Yhdysvaltain ulkoministeri Henry Kissinger, muuttaisivat mielensä 15 vuotta myöhemmin, kun konferenssista alkunsa saaneet vaikutukset nousivat pinnalle.

PROMOTION TEXT FOR THE CPH:DOX FESTIVAL, COPENHAGEN, 19-30 MARCH 2025

The Helsinki Effect on satiirista huumoria ja yllätyksellisiä tarinankerrontatapoja sisältävä uusi suomalainen dokumenttielokuva. Se tarjoaa uusia näkökulmia kylmän sodan tapahtumiin ja valaisee salaisia huipputason keskusteluja suljettujen ovien takana, tekoälyllä toteutettujen äänisimulaatioiden kautta. Etyk oli lähtölaukaus kommunistisen autoritaarisen hallinnon hitaalle mutta varmalle romahtamiselle Itä-Euroopassa. 

ELOKUVA

On elokuun ensimmäinen päivä 1975, ja kolmekymmentäviisi maailman johtajaa istuvat rivissä Finlandia-talolla valmiudessa allekirjoittamaan Helsingin päätösasiakirjaa. Vuosia kestäneiden kireiden ja uuvuttavien neuvottelujen jälkeen mm. Gerald Ford, Leonid Brezhnev, Harold Wilson, Erich Honecker, Olof Palme, ja Josip Broz Tito ovat saapuneet pääkaupunkiimme Euroopan turvallisuus- ja yhteistyökonferenssin viimeistä vaihetta varten. Heitä isännöi uransa huipentumaa elävä presidentti Urho Kekkonen. Kaikista onnellisin on Neuvostoliiton pääsihteeri Leonid Brezhnev, sillä konferenssi ja sen tuottama sopimus on hänen lempilapsensa. Etykin perintö oli alusta alkaen kiistojen ja ristiriitojen tahraama. Useimmat kriitikot, kuten skeptinen Yhdysvaltain ulkoministeri Henry Kissinger, muuttaisivat mielensä 15 vuotta myöhemmin, kun konferenssista alkunsa saaneet vaikutukset nousivat pinnalle.

Chapter 1: Whatever the Soviet Union Wants

Chapter 2: Finland's Unending Task

Chapter 3: Acronyms

Chapter 4: We Want a Document

Chapter 5: We Were Drawn Along

Chapter 6: The 19 and the 20 Are the Same Thing

Chapter 7: A Welcome Change

Chapter 8: At First We Needed to Be Patient

Chapter 9: Written in Suahili

Chapter 10: The Meeting About Baskets

AA: Arthur Franck's The Helsinki Effect has its premiere 50 years after the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). 

Seen in May 2025, it appears also in the perspective of the 80th Victory in Europe Day / Tag der Befreiung / Jour de la Victoire. 

It is striking to realize that the CSCE took place only 30 years after WWII. This means that all the 35 protagonists (besides European heads of state, leaders of the United States, Canada and the Holy See / Vatican City) belonged to generations that had experienced the war.

A documentary film on an international conference is full of possibilities to become boring. Franck faces the challenge head on, attacks treasure troves of archival documents with relish and overcomes the danger of boredom with witty montage.

Finland was in charge of the many stages of the conference during seven years. Yle (the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation) recorded and archived the conference in extenso. Eva Andberg from the Yle Archive was Franck's liaison.

To cover a vast amount of material in 88 minutes, Franck resorts to the art of the collage and the compilation. To enliven written transcripts, he gives Leonid Brezhnev and Henry Kissinger the voice via artificial intelligence.

Nothing could be taken for granted. Despite the long gestation period, many were cynical and skeptical. Finland was seen as Kremlin's errand boy. The Alexander Solzhenitsyn affair (the Nobel Prize, the publication of the Gulag Archipelago and the expulsion from Russia) coincided with the CSCE preparations, and Solzhenitsyn denounced the CSCE. The New York Times was against the CSCE. Kissinger took a cynical stand. For him, the CSCE was not a big deal.

15 years later, tables turned. The Iron Curtain fell and the Cold War ended.

There were three baskets in the conference preparations: 1) European security, 2) economy, science and environment and 3) culture and exchange of ideas and information. 

The First Basket was about the final official confirmation of the borders after WWII. It boiled down to the question of the status quo of East Germany and West Germany.

The Third Basket, the one about soft power, was the hardest part, as can be understood by the Solzhenitsyn affair. Ronald Reagan condemned the CSCE becaused it legalized the status of the Eastern European countries in the Soviet sphere of interest. But the seventh point of the Helsinki accords promoted also "respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief", and the eighth point the "self-determination of peoples".

These might sound like empty words, but they became a reality in the Helsinki Committees (the first of which was founded in Moscow in 1976), the Helsinki Watch and the Human Rights Watch. Among others, John Lewis Gaddis (in The Cold War) claims that the Helsinki Accords gradually became a manifesto of the dissident and liberal movement.

In world history, the Helsinki process played an important part in détente. Tiny Finland pursued a role as a Nordic peacemaking nation also in hosting the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks), launched in 1969. But Finland's most lasting contribution on the world stage was in the CSCE, the détente and the Helsinki Spirit. Finland turned its status of neutrality into a strength in world diplomacy, and as a bonus gained increased prestige and safety for its own existence.

All this comes to life in The Helsinki Effect. Arthur Franck and his protagonists are no strangers to controversy. They thrive in it.

Franck's greatest achievement is catching something about the essence of diplomacy. We have the endless speeches and official protocols which can be boring. But we also get a sense of unspoken layers, currents and undercurrents. 

Every nation presents an impeccable, idealistic facade. Immediately below the surface is naked self-interest, brutal power play, and the drive to sustain spheres of interest. 

But there are also points of mutual interest such as the need to control the arms race and pursue nuclear disarmament. These men had all experienced the war and knew that their peoples wanted peace.

Diplomacy is a field where human beings are in direct touch with other human beings. It is impossible to truly read another person without meeting him/her. Diplomacy itself is a medium for peace, because it helps understand not only the official formulations but complexities which remain confidential.

...

The film is full of fascinating detail. In A US State Department memo, talking with Kissinger, Richard Nixon wonders in passing what NATO is doing anymore.

...

For me this movie is personal. In 1973-1974 I carried out my military service at the mortar company in the Karelia Brigade at Vekaranjärvi. When I was offered the opportunity to conduct the evening prayer, I chose CSCE as the subject.

After the military, I worked for the first time in a job based on my qualifications: to codify for computer runs Le Monde and its coverage of the Third Basket. I learned how complex the subject could be.

During the military service, besides heavy lifting on mortar marches, I gained from evening reading at the garnison library. I learned about the three cornerstones of Finnish security politics: foreign politics, diplomacy and the defense forces. I learned to respect all three.

Ei koskaan yksin / Never Alone

Klaus Härö: Ei koskaan yksin / Never Alone (FI 2024) with Ville Virtanen (Abraham Stiller) and Rony Herman (Georg Kollmann). © MRP Matila Röhr Productions Oy

Aldrig ensam / Sa pole üksi.

    FI/SE/EE/AT/DE © 2025 MRP Matila Röhr Productions Oy / Samsara Filmproduktion GmbH / Taska Film OÜ / Penned Pictures GmbH / Hobab. P: Ilkka Matila.

    D: Klaus Härö. SC: Jimmy Karlsson - based on: Rony Smolar: Setä Stiller: Valpon ja Gestapon välissä [Uncle Stiller: Between Valpo* and Gestapo] (2003). Special acknowledgement: Elina Sana**. Finnish dialogue: Antti Tuuri. German dialogue: Magnus Mariuson. Cin: Robert Nordström. AD: Jaagup Roomet. Cost: Eugen Tamberg. Makeup: Valerie Rossacher. VFX supervisor: Saku Partamies (VFX Helsinki). M: Matti Bye. S: Simon Proksch. ED: Tambet Tasuja. Adviser on Finnish Jewish life: Rony Smolar. 

    C: Ville Virtanen (Abraham Stiller), Nina Hukkinen (Vera Stiller), Kari Hietalahti (Arno Anthoni), Hannu-Pekka Björkman (Väinö Tanner), Rony Herman (Georg Kollmann), Naemi Latzer (Janka Kollmann), Peter Kanerva (etsivä Kauhanen), Carl-Kristian Rundman (Toivo Horelli), Tomi Salmela (poliisipäällikkö Ryynänen), Lukas Walcher (German officer), Alexander Jagsch (Heinrich Müller), Satu Tuuli Karhu (toimittaja [Elina Sana]), Max Bremer (K. A. Fagerholm), Jouko Puolanto (Jukka Rangell), suomenhevonen/Finnhorse Veikko.

    Languages: Finnish, Swedish, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, German, English.

    85 min

    International sales: The Playmaker.

    Previews: 11 Nov 2024, 9 Jan 2025 etc. (limited).

    Festival premiere: 13 Nov 2024 Black Nights Film Festival, Tallinn.

    Swedish festival premiere: 30 Jan 2025 Göteborg Film Festival.

    Premiere in Finland: 17 Jan 2025 (wide) - distributed by Oy Nordisk Film Ab - subtitles n.c.

    Viewed on Sunday 18 May 2025 at Tennispalatsi, Salomonkatu 15, 00100 Helsinki

* Valpo = Valtiollinen poliisi / Statspolisen = State Police.

** Elina Sana (previously Elina Suominen): Kuoleman laiva S/S Hohenhörn : juutalaispakolaisten kohtalo Suomessa [The Ship of Death S/S Hohenhörn : the Fate of Jewish Refugees in Finland] (1979). - Luovutetut : Suomen ihmisluovutukset Gestapolle [The Extradited : Finland's Extraditions to Gestapo] (2003). - Zavidovo-vuoto ja muita järkytyksiä [The Zavidovo Leak and Other Shocks] (2022).

Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival 2024: "28th Black Nights Film Festival

Programme: Baltic Film Competition

Genre: historical drama

Subject: individual vs society, politics

Klaus Härö brings to life the inspiring humanitarian efforts of Abraham Stiller in this gripping film.

Partly filmed in Estonia, with costumes by Eugen Tamberg and production design by Jaagup Roomet, this thrilling historical drama tells the lesser-known story of Abraham Stiller's struggle to protect Jews from deportation to the Nazis. Stiller, a Finnish Jewish businessman, did everything in his power to help the Jewish refugees seeking shelter in Finland.

While Finland remains unoccupied during the Second World War, some officials and cabinet ministers want to appease the Nazis by dealing with the so-called 'Jewish question'. Many Jewish refugees who have come to Finland in search of a better future find themselves facing the same problems as before. The kind but outspoken Abraham speaks out to protect the asylum seekers, but suddenly finds himself torn between his personal life and his politics, his emotions and his reason.

Estonian editor Tambet Tasuja dynamically cuts a gripping narrative, alternating between the perspective of guilt-ridden Abraham in 1972 and flashbacks to key events in 1938 and 1941-42." Edvinas Pukšta (Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival 2024)

Göteborg Film Festival 2025: Förtätat historiskt drama om mod, civilkurage och en kamp för mänsklighet i andra världskrigets skugga.

Under fortsättningskriget allierade sig Finland med Nazityskland mot den gemensamma fienden Sovjetunionen. Fram till dess hade många judiska flyktingar sökt sig till Finland för att undkomma förföljelser, men i och med militäralliansen började situationen förändras. För den finsk-judiske affärsmannen Abraham Stiller (imponerande gestaltad av Ville Virtanen) var utvecklingen ytterst oroande och i Aldrig ensam skildras hans obevekliga kamp för att skydda judiska flyktingar från deportation. Festivalbekanta Klaus Härö (Fäktaren GFF 2016, One Last Deal GFF 2019) har skapat ett angeläget och engagerande porträtt av en man som trots sina uppoffringar plågades av de liv han inte lyckades rädda." - Tobias Åkesson (Göteborg Film Festival 2025)

AA: The saga of Finnish Jews during the Holocaust is exceptional and unique. Finland was the only country in Germany's sphere of influence where not a single Jewish citizen perished in the Holocaust. 

Finland fought in the Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of Russia), the largest and deadliest land war in history, and there were 200.000 Wehrmacht troops in Finland. Finland also participated in the Waffen-SS via a Volunteer Battalion in Ukraine and the Caucasus Front. 

On Finland's Eastern Front operated the sole field synagogue on this side of the war, and a German soldier was obliged to salute a Jewish officer.

This saga has been told in the cinema in Taru Mäkelä's outstanding documentary film David - Tales of Honour and Shame (FI 1997).

Klaus Härö's Never Alone, based on Rony Smolar's excellent book Setä Stiller: Valpon ja Gestapon välissä [Uncle Stiller: Between Valpo and Gestapo], tells about Abraham Stiller's efforts to save Jewish refugees from deportation to the Nazis.

The focus is on the case of eight refugees who were deported from Helsinki to Tallinn and further to Auschwitz in November 1942. A detail in the Holocaust, but a turning-point in Finnish history. 

On the one hand, a story of a failure, a disgraceful outcome of the Gestapo mentality in the Finnish State Police, previously discussed in the cinema in Jörn Donner's The Interrogation (FI 2009), one of his best films, with Mikko Reitala as Arno Anthoni and Marcus Groth as Paavo Kastari. Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Härö's Väinö Tanner, appears as the Valpo interrogator Toivo Suominen in Donner's movie.

On the other hand, a story of a victory: the outrage around the deportation was so great that it made the existence of the Finnish Jewish community safer. However, some 200 Jewish prisoners-of-war were turned to the Nazis. And Finland, in contrast to Sweden, never became a safe haven for Jewish refugees.

Never Alone is the ninth movie of Klaus Härö whose career started with Elina: As If I Wasn't There (2002). It received the Ingmar Bergman Prize (Bergman himself giving the decisive vote and writing the justification). All Härö's films matter. He often discusses touchy subjects in recent Nordic and Baltic history. One could call him a profoundly Christian artist. My favourite film of his is Letters to Father Jacob (FI 2009).

In Never Alone, Härö turns to the Jewish world, portraying Abraham Stiller as an outsider-insider in the small Jewish community of Finland. Stiller is always a benefactor and lifeline to the refugees who call him "Uncle Stiller". Abraham risks his life on a journey to faraway Lapland, the Salla-Kemijärvi railroad construction site, to help refugees who toil in concentration camp circumstances by the frontline of the 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord.

Abraham Stiller's story is a study in chutzpah (Yiddish for audacity, cheek, insolence). Stiller is a gentle man, but he has the balls to speak truth to Nazi power. All his life he regrets that he did not achieve more, but the case of the eight refugees (of whom only one, Georg Kollmann, survived Auschwitz) was a victory in defeat, because it reversed the course of Jewish persecution in Finland.

Klaus Härö tells the story in a sober manner, which is the right way. The truth is so outrageous that it does not need embellishing.

But I was also asking myself the Billy Wilder question: "How would Lubitsch do it?" The Stiller family is known for its bigger-than-life characters, including Abraham's brother Mauritz Stiller, whose masterpiece Erotikon gave Lubitsch an inspiration for his 1920s comedies. I am also thinking about the memoirs of the Finnish Jews Boris Grünstein (En jude i Finland: galghumoristiska berättelser, 1988) and Herbert Gumpler (Itse plus Gumpler: rikosjuristin muistoja, 1996) where they discuss how they navigated in the toxic atmosphere of Nazi Europe with bravado.

...

Every Finn should see this film and read Rony Smolar's book. I read it from cover to cover on the day it was published, and inspired by Klaus Härö's movie I reread it. It is full of alarming facts and details. I would like to know the answers to many of its questions, such as what was the fate of the confiscated fortune of the deported businessman Elias Kopelowsky.

Der Feldzug im Osten (DE 1942). The official propaganda film of Operation Barbarossa was released in a special Finnish version. The title Never Alone refers to the Nie allein poster celebrating the German-Finnish Waffenbrüderschaft. I hope to access the poster that I do not remember having seen before Klaus Härö's film.

Orenda

Pirjo Honkasalo: Orenda (FI/EE/SE 2025) with Pirkko Saisio (Natalia) and Alma Pöysti (Nora).

FI/EE/SE 2025. Tuotanto Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff / Bufo. Yhteistuottajat Ivo Felt, Pille Rünk / Allfilm, Erik Hemmendorff / Plattform Produktion

    Ohjaus Pirjo Honkasalo

Käsikirjoitus Pirkko Saisio

Kuvaus Max Smeds - 4K DCP, 2.39:1, 24 fps

Lavastussuunnittelu Tiiu-Ann Pello

Pukusuunnittelu Jaanus Vahtra

Maskeeraussuunnittelu Kaire Hendrikson

Musiikki Sanna Salmenkallio, Elias Salmenkallio

Äänisuunnittelu Jan Alvermark - Dolby Digital 5.1

Leikkaus Samu Heikkilä

    Näyttelijät

Alma Pöysti Nora

Pirkko Saisio Natalia

Luca Leino poika

Hannu-Pekka Björkman piispa

Mikko Kauppila ex-rakastaja

Tambet Tuisk orkesterinjohtaja

Juhan Ulfsak kuollut aviomies

Lauri Maijala pappi

Ilo-Ann Saarepera Anna (ääni Krista Kosonen)

    Loc: Jurmo (island, Pargas, outer islands of the archipelago off Turku, Finland).

    Puhutut kielet: suomi, englanti ⏐ tekstitys saatavilla: suomi, ruotsi, suomi heikkokuuloisille, englanti

    118 min

    Maailmanensi-ilta Rotterdamin elokuvajuhlien Big Screen -kilpasarjassa 31.1.2025

    Pohjoismaiden ensi-ilta Göteborgin elokuvajuhlien kilpasarjassa 1.2.2025

    Suomen ensi-ilta Tampereen elokuvajuhlien avajaiselokuvana 5.3.2025. 

    Elokuvateattereissa 17.4.2025 - B-Plan Distribution - svensk text: Nina Donner

    Viewed on Saturday 17 May 2025 at Kinopalatsi 6, Kaisaniemenkatu 2, 00100 Helsinki

 
Official introduction from the press dossier: 

"Suomen kansainvälisesti juhlituimpiin ohjaajiin kuuluvan Pirjo Honkasalon odotetussa paluuelokuvassa syyllisyys menetetystä miehestä kietoo oopperalaulajan ja papin (Alma Pöysti ja Pirkko Saisio) elämät yhteen. Arkitodellisuuden rajojen yli virtaava, Pirkko Saision käsikirjoittama Orenda sijoittuu henkeäsalpaavaan saaristoon, jossa naiset hakevat armoa mieltä kuristaville muistoilleen."

"Orenda tarkoittaa elämän henkeä, joka asuu kaikessa elävässä ja elottomassa. Näkymätöntä voimaa joka synnyttää, pitää elossa, tappaa ja synnyttää uudelleen. Orenda on se, joka on aina ollut ja jonka ihmiset ovat aina tunteneet. Se, joka palvelee Orendaa ja laulaa sille, voi saada sen voiman."

– Natalia, elokuvassa Orenda

Synopsis from the press dossier:

"Suomen kansainvälisesti juhlituimpiin ohjaajiin kuuluva Pirjo Honkasalo (mm. Betoniyö, Melancholian 3 huonetta) tekee henkeäsalpaavan paluun uutuudellaan Orenda. Kaksi voimakastahtoista naista (Alma Pöysti ja Pirkko Saisio) kohtaavat maagisissa saaristomaisemissa. Kumpaakin kuristaa syyllisyys menetetystä miehestä, jonka muisto kietoo heidät yhteen. Mitä levoton oopperalaulaja ja äkkiväärä pappi toisistaan oikein hakevat? Arkitodellisuuden rajoja venyttävä Orenda on virtaava tarina armosta ja ankaruudesta. Pirkko Saision käsikirjoituksen arvoituksellisessa vireessä soi elämän näkymätön voima, orenda."

AA: Orenda is a word new to me, and no word could be more illuminating about the mystery power of the cinema. Take me to the water.

I read from the Wikipedia entry about Orenda that it is the Haudenosaunee name for a certain spiritual energy inherent in people and their environment. It is an "extraordinary invisible power believed by the Iroquois Native Americans to pervade in varying degrees in all animate and inanimate natural objects as a transmissible spiritual energy capable of being exerted according to the will of its possessor." Orenda is a collective power of nature's energies through the living energy of all natural objects: animate and inanimate. Anthropologist J. N. B. Hewitt notes intrinsic similarities between the Haudenosaunee concept of orenda and that of the Siouxan wakan or mahopa; the Algonquin manitowi, and the pokunt of the Shoshone. Across the Iroquois tribes, the concept was referred to variously as orenna or karenna by the Mohawk, Cayuga, and Oneida; urente by the Tuscarora, and iarenda or orenda by the Huron. Orenda is present in nature: storms are said to possess orenda. A strong connection exists between prayers and songs and orenda. Through song, a bird, a shaman, or a rabbit puts forth orenda.

Orenda the movie is the third collaboration of the artist couple Pirjo Honkasalo (film director) and Pirkko Saisio (writer) after Fire-Eater (FI 1998) and Concrete Night (FI 2013).

It is a visionary movie, an image-driven movie. For me, Honkasalo is an imagist, and the deepest impact in her work for me is provided by the imagery, such as the ground-frost in Flame Top and the snowstorm in Nine Ways to Approach Helsinki.

Honkasalo herself is a top cinematographer, but her two most recent films have been shot by others, Concrete Night by Peter Flinckenberg and Orenda by Max Smeds - whose work we have recently seen in Shadowland, which he shot together with Flinckenberg. Regardless of the cinematographer, the intensity of the vision remains the same.

The sky and the sea. The island, the lighthouse and the horizon. Remembering the words of John Ford (played by David Lynch) in The Fabelmans I pay attention to the horizon: is the field of vision dominated by the sky (like in Ford) or the sea? Is the horizon high or low? It alternates. But we are always on the edge of eternity, to riff on Jörn Donner's last movie The Memory of Ingmar Bergman (FI 2018), channeling the poet Edith Södergran.

I am thinking about the beautiful Finnish title to Ingmar Bergman's Musik i mörker: Sielujen sävel [untranslatable, meaning "The Music of the Souls"]. Alma Pöysti appears as the opera singer Nora. She could have kept her own name as the role name, because "alma" in Spanish means "soul" (qf. anima, âme, ande), and Bibi Andersson's character in Persona was called Alma.

Orenda is a mystery thriller, among other things, but we get only vague hints to what has actually happened, what makes Nora feels guilty and responsible for her husband's suicide ("I killed him"). His mother was an ex-lover of Natalia (Pirkko Saisio), which brings them together on the remote island.

Orenda is a meditation on the sacred, the holy, the divine. It is tale of a quest of a connection with higher powers. I feel that it comes closest in the meditative imagery and the glorious music. Orenda is at its most engaging in its luminous views and compelling soundtrack: the original score is by Sanna Salmenkallio and Elias Salmenkallio, and there are performances of J. S. Bach and G. B. Pergolesi. 

It is a film about time also, in evidence in the hourglass, the patina of the rocky island that dates from ice age, and the buildings and objects that bear the signs of wear and tear, as well as the deeply lined face of Pirkko Saisio.

I have been puzzled about the pandemic / post-pandemic syndrome of movies which have all the best ingredients, but an irresistible inner drive is missing. Orenda is about orenda, but might there have been a bit more faith in the indigenous dream power of this tale of an inner pilgrimage?

P.S. 21 May 2025. I have just read Laura Malmivaara's excellent essay on Orenda in Filmihullu 3/2025.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: DATA FROM THE PRESS DOSSIER:

Levoton Tuhkimo / My Name Is Dingo

Mari Rantasila: Levoton Tuhkimo (FI 2024) starring Saku Taittonen as Pertti "Nipa" Neumann. Photo: Hanna-Maria Grönlund. Poster design: Brosmark / Hermanni Suppanen. Nordisk Film. © Yellow Film & TV.

Mari Rantasila: Levoton Tuhkimo / My Name Is Dingo (FI 2024). Photo from the pressbook: Hanna-Maria Grönlund. Nordisk Film. © Yellow Film & TV.

Mitt namn är Dingo.

FI 2024. Yellow Film & TV Oy. Tuottajat: Marko Talli, Anni Pänkäälä. Linjatuottaja: Anni Savela.

    Ohjaus: Mari Rantasila

Käsikirjoitus: Hanna Leivonniemi

Kuvaus: Sari Aaltonen F.S.C. – colour – 1.85:1 – release: DCP

Lavastus: Sasu Joutsi

Pukusuunnittelu: Susse Roos

Maskeeraussuunnittelu: Nora Pippingsköld

Sävellys: Timo Kämäräinen

Äänisuunnittelu: Mikko Mäkelä

Leikkaus: Hanna Kuirinlahti F.C.E.

    C: Saku Taittonen, Pertti ’Nipa’ Neumann – lead vocals

Alvari Stenbäck, Pepe – bass guitar, background vocals

Emil Kihlström, Jonttu – guitar

Samuel Kujala, Pete – keyboards, background vocals

Valtteri Lehtinen, Quuppa – drums

Mauno Terävä, Eve – bass guitar, background vocals

Ronja Keiramo, Nipan tyttöystävä Marika

Elias Salonen, manageri Lasse Norres

Kris Gummerus, father

Miia Lindström, mother

Jani Karvinen, Pertti "Nipa" Neumann now

Hugo Komaro, Pertti as a child

Reino Nordin, Pave Maijanen

    Loc: Pori.

    Kesto: 88 min

    Ikäraja: 7

    Festival premiere: 22 Nov 2024, Black Nights Film Festival, Tallinn

    Finnish premiere: 25 Dec 2024 – Oy Nordisk Film Ab – Finnish subtitles: Eino Ajo.

    Awards: Jussit 2025: vuoden läpimurtorooli: Saku Taittonen, vuoden maskeeraussuunnittelu: Nora Pippingsköld.

    Viewed on Saturday 17 May 2025 at Kinopalatsi 6, Kaisaniemenkatu 2, 00100 Helsinki

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS

"Suomalaisen populäärikulttuurin mittavimman fani-ilmiön aikaansaaneen Dingo-yhtyeen ja sen keulakuvan Pertti ’Nipa’ Neumannin (ent. Nieminen) tarina on ikuistettu Levoton Tuhkimo -elokuvaksi. Elokuva keskittyy Dingon räjähdysmäiseen läpimurtoon, suosion vuosiin, mutta myös äkilliseen tuhoon."

  

"Tarinassa avataan Neumannin henkilökohtaista elämää Dingo-manian keskellä, ennen ja jälkeen. Musiikki näyttelee luonnollisesti suurta roolia, ja tuttujen hittien lomassa elokuva käsittelee myös sukupolvien välistä ketjua sekä hyväksynnän ja hylkäämisen teemoja. Vaikka elokuva on saanut inspiraationsa tosielämästä, on se silti fiktiivinen teos."

AA: In 1982–1986 the band Dingo enjoyed a success unheard-of in Finnish rock history, culminating in a nationwide stadium tour. Their record sales were the highest so far in Finnish rock. The fan reaction was exceptional; nothing like it had been seen in Finland since the Renegades in the 1960s. "Dingomania" became a national phenomenon. They unleashed mass devotion, euphoria, ecstasy, even hysteria. Dingo set new standards in Finland for success in rock music, also in terms of financial compensation. There was rock before and after Dingo.

In the golden age of Dingo I lived abroad and missed everything, which is why I am grateful for Mari Rantasila's film Levoton Tuhkimo which focuses on those very years.

Pop culture pundits at the time were in the habit of belittling and snubbing the Dingo experience. Seeing this movie and hearing the songs for the first time with full attention I think they are excellent and unique artists. 

Dingo's golden age was concurrent with the New Romantics (Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, The Human League), but Dingo was not part of that trend. They were certainly aware of it but did their own thing. In their childhood they had been impressed by Glam Rock, and channeled those influences in their personal way.

In Finland the previous big things had been the Suomi-Rock of the 1970s, an indigenous current with literate and meaningful lyrics in the Finnish language – followed by Finnish punk since 1977: a mighty, versatile trend, part of a larger alternative Finnish phenomenon, a new wave counterculture/subculture. Their meaning for the Finnish culture was seminal. They conquered new universes of experience for Finnish language and poetry.

Liberal use of kohl and makeup and wearing women's clothes was something that few male performers dared in Finland. The rock band Hanoi Rocks singing in English was the pathbreaker. They and Dingo took makeup and couture to a seriously professional level. Unlike Hanoi Rocks, Dingo performed in Finnish, and they had also the courage to present a soft, tender, dreamy, melancholic and romantic rock repertory.

Androgyny had been a part of the rock mystique since the beginning, but queer liberation was now on the roll, and pop culture was swinging both ways. Dingo found a direct access and a hot line into the sensitivity of the current teenage turmoil, to the very genesis of a young person's identity. 

They were a mainstream phenomenon, and they tapped a new audience, a whole new generation, not only teenage girls but even preteens, in a way that brings to my mind Beatlemania in Finland. My seven-year old girl classmates were aware of The Beatles long before me. Something awesome and mysterious was happening.

Musician biopics tend to be rise-and-fall stories, and this is the case here, as well, because that's how it was. Hanna Leivonniemi's screenplay follows the formula, but it is an endlessly flexible framework for a biopic.

I enjoyed the film because of: 

1) The music.

 

2) The cast: Saku Taittonen received deservedly the Jussi Award (Finland's counterpart to the Academy Award) for the breakthrough role of the year as Pertti "Nipa" Neumann, but the whole cast is great, and band members stand out as individuals. 

3) The account of Dingomania and the familiar paradox: when the band reaches its peak, they become victims of their own success. The fan crowds are so big that they have to start turning fans down, and soon the aversion is mutual. They neglect holidays. They tour too much (even three gigs a day) and have no energy left to create good new material. They neglect band psychology and team spirit. The band leader offends everybody. They have a professional manager and an unprofessional business manager.  They lose their money. "The artist pays the price".

4) The director Mari Rantasila is in charge of the Pori dialect among other things. The Pori speak is pure manna. It provides a firm ground, inserts a special sense of warmth and humour (not joke-based but language and intonation based) and tunes it to a wavelength of its own.

The personal tragedy of Neumann is that his absentee father has never supported him, on the contrary. Even at the height of his success the father finds his son's achievement worthless. The hurt never heals.

In the whirlwind of mass hysteria, Neumann had no time to read fan mail. Some of it is found discarded in his oven. Follows the most powerful moment. "You are the only one who understands". "Is it possible to be that way?" "It's like you were talking about me". "You know how it feels to be different". "Without you I would not be alive".

SOUNDTRACK LISTING FROM ELONET:

100 litraa sahtia / 100 litri di birra / 100 Litres of Gold

Teemu Nikki: 100 litraa sahtia / 100 litri di birra / 100 Litres of Gold (FI 2025) starring Elina Knihtilä (Pirkko, with the billhook) and Pirjo Lonka (Taina, with the jug).

Data from: Filmikamari Pressipalvelu

    FI/IT © 2025 Smile Entertainment Oy / TCB srl / It´s Alive Films Oy. – I Wonder Pictures. Tuottaja: Jani Pösö. Yhteistuottajat: Andrea Romeo ja Timo T. Lahtinen.

    Ohjaus: Teemu Nikki

Käsikirjoitus: Teemu Nikki

Elokuvaaja: Jarmo Kiuru F.S.C. – colour – 2.66:1.

Lavastussuunnittelija: Maria Hahl (as Maria Hulkkonen)

Pukusunnittelija: Anna Vilppunen

Maskeeraussuunnittelija: Mari Vaalasranta

VFX: Heikki Nummi

Stunt Coordinator: Oula Kitti

Säveltäjä: Marco Biscarini

Soundtrack: 

– "Kuutamofoxi" (comp. Sten Ducander, lyr. Olavi Virta) perf. Olavi Virta 

– W. A. Mozart: 21. Klavierkonzert in C-Dur (1785) KV 467, 2. Satz: Andante.

– [Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana (1890), intermezzo sinfonico] n.c.

Äänisuunnittelijat: Marco Biscarini ja Alessio Vanni

Leikkaaja: Jussi Sandhu F.C.E.

    Pääosanäyttelijät:

Elina Knihtilä – Pirkko

Pirjo Lonka – Taina

Ville Tiihonen – Hauki-Hikkanen

    Sivuosanäyttelijät:

Ria Kataja – Päivi

Jakob Öhrman – Nestori

Elmer Bäck – Jorma

Jari Pehkonen – Ponu-Paavo

Pertti Sveholm – Väinö

Vilma Melasniemi – Pastori

Rami Rusinen – Haaviston isäntä

    Loc: Sysmä

    Pituus: 88 min

    Genret: Draama, Komedia

    Ikäraja: 12

    Festival premiere: 24 Oct 2024 Rome Film Fest.

    Ensi-ilta: 28.3.2025 – cinema distribution: Nelonen Media / Finnkino – Swedish subtitles: Frej Grönholm.

    Viewed on Saturday 17 May 2025 at Tennispalatsi LUXE by Crisp 7, Salomonkatu 15, 00100 Helsinki

Introduction from Filmikamari Pressipalvelu: "100 litraa sahtia on maailman sahtipääkaupunki Sysmään sijoittuva komedia, jossa siskokset Pirkko (Elina Knihtilä) ja Taina (Pirjo Lonka) ovat jatkaneet sukunsa pitkää perinnettä sahdin valmistajina. Kylällä jokainen haluaa osansa maineikkaasta juomasta, vaikka maksukykyä ei aina löytyisikään. Yllättäen kotikonnuille tekee paluun sisarustrion kolmas - Päivi (Ria Kataja), ja tilaa siskoiltaan häihinsä ei enempää eikä vähempää kuin sata litraa sahtia. Pirkko ja Taina panevat tuumasta toimeen täydellisen satsin valmistamiseksi. Pelissä on sekä perhesuhteet että maine. Prosessiin kuuluva maistelu kuitenkin venähtää, ja Sysmän kulta hulahtaa kokonaisuudessaan itse panijoiden sekä kyläläisten kitusiin. Pian häihin on enää alle kaksi vuorokautta aikaa, ja siskosten on keksittävä keino miten toimittaa juhliin luvatut sahdit. Alkaa taistelu aikaa vastaan, ja tilanteen korjaamiseksi käytetään kaikki mahdolliset keinot."

AA: 100 litraa sahtia / 100 Litres of Gold is by now the most popular Finnish film of the year 2025. 

The original title means "100 Litres of Sahti" in literal translation. Described by the English Wikipedia, "sahti is a Finnish type of farmhouse ale made from malted and unmalted grains including barley and rye". Featuring prominently in the movie is the key means of production kuurna, described in the aforementioned article as "a trough-shaped tun".

100 Litres of Gold is a bold and gross comedy about the sisters Pirkko (Elina Knihtilä) and Taina (Pirjo Lonka) who are top brewers of sahti. They are in constant trouble with their clientele who are always impatient to access the miracle drink but late with their payments. The sisters wear a billhook to collect what is due and to defend themselves against competition. 

When the third sister Päivi (Ria Kataja) orders 100 litres of sahti for her wedding, the movie turns into a race against time (complete with a countdown display) as they struggle to get the shipment done - and against themselves, because whenever they have the beverage at hand they drink it up.

Besides a comedy and a chase movie, 100 Litres of Gold is a documentary about the centuries-old art and craft of brewing sahti (the earliest surviving record of the word is in Henrik Florinus's dictionary from 1678). The movie has been shot on a site illustrious in sahti lore: Sysmä in Häme (Tavastia) by the Lake Päijänne. Sysmä is also the place of birth of the director-screenwriter Teemu Nikki, whose parents were brewers, too. The movie is full of lovingly observed local detail while Nikki distances himself from the mannerisms of the Finnish Heimatfilm.

Teemu Nikki, who works regularly with his producer Jani Pösö, is a unique talent whose filmography consists of offbeat and deeply felt works such as 3Simoa, Armomurhaaja, Nimby and Sokea mies, joka ei halunnut nähdä Titanicia. Besides movies for the cinema he has made music videos, short films and television series. He charts important territories of contemporary life that others ignore. He breaks conventions and expectations in each film.

That happens also in 100 litraa sahtia. Alcoholism is a popular theme in Finnish cinema, perhaps the Ur-theme: the first Finnish film was Salaviinanpolttajat / The Moonshiners (1907). Unforgettable drinking and moonshining scenes have appeared in the greatest classics The Unknown Soldier (all three versions) and The Eight Deadly Shots. The twist here is that the alcoholic protagonists are sisters, but even that is not unheard-of. In her last movie, Olet mennyt minun vereeni, directed by Teuvo Tulio, Regina Linnanheimo appeared as an alcoholic.

Comedy turns into tragedy. For thirty years, the sisters have ruined their lives with alcohol. Beyond riotous fun, there is a current of hidden sorrow. The death drive is never far. Alcoholism can be a form of suicide. The sisters risk their lives in dangerous accidents with motorboats and cars. 30 years ago, Päivi was invalidized because of their drunken driving. The burden of guilt has traumatized them ever since. Now Taina fears for Pirkko who is on the verge of lethal alcohol poisoning.

The screenplay is sharp, the cast is excellent, the narrative moves at a brisk clip, the score by Marco Biscarini is engaging, the dream sequences are genuinely oneiric, and genre influences have been  thoroughly internalized (including those from the Western in the final duel with the sledgehammer vs. the billhook). 

...

Fun features include "the safeword".

Among the famous men of Sysmä, the singer legend (and alcoholic) Olavi Virta features on the soundtrack.

Vilma Melasniemi as the pastor is a phoenix revelation.

One to One: John & Yoko

Kevin Macdonald & Sam Rice-Edwards: One to One: John & Yoko (GB 2024). Photo: IMDb.

Kevin Macdonald & Sam Rice-Edwards: One to One: John & Yoko (GB 2024). John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Photo: IMDb.

Kevin Macdonald & Sam Rice-Edwards: One to One: John & Yoko (GB 2024). John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Photo: IMDb.

One to One: John & Yoko

GB 2024

    Data from Gilda elokuvateatteri / biograf:

Ohjaus: Kevin Macdonald, Sam Rice-Edwards

Pääosissa: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol, Stevie Wonder, Jerry Rubin, May Pang, Allen Ginsberg, George Wallace, Shirley Chisholm, Charlie Chaplin, Dick Cavett

Kesto: 1 h 41 min

Lajityyppi: Dokumentti, Musiikki

Kieli: englanti

Tekstitys: suomenkielinen

    Festival premiere: 30 Aug 2024 Venice Film Festival

American festival premiere: 31 Aug 2024 Telluride Film Festival

English premiere: 9 April 2025 (IMAX), 11 April 2025 (wide)

US premiere: 11 April 2025 (IMAX), 18 April 2025 (wide)

Finnish premiere: 16 May 2025

Viewed on Friday 16 May 2025 at Gilda, Kulttuurikasarmi, Narinkka 2, 00100 Helsinki

    Introduction from Gilda elokuvateatteri / biograf:

"ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO on kattava ja paljastava katsaus John Lennonin ja Yoko Onon elämään Greenwhich Villagessa 1970-luvun alussa. Immersiivinen filmatisointi herättää eloon säväyttävän ja ennennäkemättömän materiaalin ja vastikään entisöityä materiaalia Johnin ja Yokon ainoasta täyspitkästä konsertista. Elokuvassa kuullaan uutta, tajunnanräjäyttävää musiikkia, jonka on miksannut ja tuottanut Sean Ono Lennon. Filmi on järisyttävä paljastus, joka haastaa käsitykset ikonisesta kaksikosta."

"Oscar-palkitun Kevin Macdonaldin (The Last King of Scotland) elokuva sisältää runsaasti ennennäkemätöntä materiaalia, kuten kotielokuvia, useiden Johnin ja Yokon puheluiden nauhoitteita sekä vastikään entisöityä materiaalia Johnin ja Yokon ainoasta täyspitkästä konsertista. Yhdessä ne tarjoavat ainutlaatuisen näkökulman erään musiikkimaailman tunnetuimman pariskunnan elämän ratkaisevaan ajanjaksoon."

"Vuonna 1971 Lennon ja Ono olivat vasta saapuneet Yhdysvaltoihin ja elivät pikkuruisessa asunnossa Greenwhich Villagessa katsoen valtavasti amerikkalaista televisiota. Elokuva yhdistelee amerikkalaisia TV-ohjelmia luodessaan ajankuvan, jonka keskellä tuolloin elettiin. Oli Vietnamin sota, The Price is Right -visailuohjelma, Nixon, Coca-Cola-mainokset, Walter Cronkite ja Waltonin perhe."

"Eläessään Yhdysvalloissa rakkauden ja muutoksen vuotta John ja Yoko alkavat muuttaa lähestymistapaansa protestointiin, mikä kulminoituu One to One -konserttiin, joka sai alkusysäyksensä TV:ssä näytetystä Geraldo Riveran paljastusuutisesta."

"Kyseessä oli Lennonin ainoa täyspitkä konsertti Beatlesista lähdön jälkeen. New Yorkissa järjestetyssä railakkaassa ja häikäisevässä hyväntekeväisyyskonsertissa oli mukana myös Yoko Ono. Dokumentti käyttää tätä tarunhohtoista musiikkitapahtumaa lähtökohtanaan toisintaakseen 18 kuukauden ajanjakson, joka oli avainasemassa Johnin ja Yokon elämässä."

“Hauska, hurja ja kiihkeä kuvaus Lennonista ja Onosta” ⭐⭐⭐⭐ –The Guardian

Introduction from Gilda elokuvateatteri / biograf

Telluride Film Festival 2024: L/Sat 7:45PM - S/Sun 9:15PM Q&A. One to One: John & Yoko. Jason Silverman: "In 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the most famous couple in the world, moved to New York City, escaping England’s stifling conventionality and casual cruelty. “I really feel I’m home,” Lennon said, and he and Yoko, living in a two-room flat, promptly immersed themselves into a wild countercultural scene. America was grappling with war, race and materialism—only the most visionary could imagine living in harmony—and John and Yoko collaborated with Jerry Rubin, agitated to free political prisoners, built conceptual art exhibits and deepened their love connection. Kevin Macdonald (GALLIANO: HIGH AND LOW, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) weaves a tale that’s less a biography than a vibe, a whirling, thrilling and intensely evocative collage of TV fragments, glorious concert footage and snippets of phone conversations. ONE TO ONE distills a moment of deep cultural conflict and societal transformation; when “Instant Karma!” rolls underneath Vietnam footage, you know you are in the hands of a master." –JS (U.K., 2024, 100m) In person: Kevin Macdonald .

AA: One to One: John & Yoko is one of the best documentaries about rock personalities. I was deeply moved by the protagonists and the whole cast of characters, including also Richard Nixon, George Wallace and Billy Graham.

The montage film has been edited from vintage early 1970s footage. The look is blurry, low tech and old video. It puzzles me that it is released in IMAX. Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards perform such wizardry with the edit that the low visual quality turns into a means of expression.

The sound is amazing in the professionally recorded performances and intimately touching in the private recordings. "We are there".

It is a labour of love. From their compact time-frame the film-makers conjure a fascinating portrait of an artist couple in a moment of transition. 

They present an epic vision of the age, in turmoil during Vietnam, Watergate and Nixon in China. We witness the young generation who have had enough of war. But we also witness Richard Nixon in a moment of a landslide victory, even he channeling the will of young people who are proud to be called rednecks. This openness to complexity is welcome in today's divisive circumstances.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono become television addicts, and One to One turns into a cross-section of the world as seen through American television. John and Yoko have also a genial television presence themselves.

I love every minute of the music. I first heard these tracks when they were released. Now they move me with a force that has grown with time. "Mother" has me always in tears, especially after the death of my own mother. The live One to One performance, included here in extenso, is extraordinary in the entire John Lennon legacy.

...

FROM: SETLIST.FM: MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NEW YORK, 30 AUG 1972 (some of which is included in the movie)

– Power to the People (John Lennon song)

– New York City

– It's So Hard (John Lennon song)

– Move on Fast (Yoko Ono song)

– Woman Is the Nigger of the World

– Sisters, O Sisters

– Well Well Well (John Lennon song)

– Born in a Prison

– Instant Karma! (John Lennon song)

– Mother (John Lennon song)

– We're All Water

– Come Together (The Beatles cover)

– Imagine (John Lennon song)

– Hirake (Yoko Ono song)

– Cold Turkey (Plastic Ono Band cover)

– Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow) (Yoko Ono song)

– Hound Dog (Big Mama Thornton cover)

– Give Peace a Chance (Plastic Ono Band cover)

Screenshot from Soundtrack.Net

Laurel & Hardy: Year Two: The Newly Restored 1928 Silents (2-blu-ray, Flicker Alley 2024)

Cover art photo from: Clyde Bruckman: Leave 'Em Laughing (US 1928) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. At the dentist, they have overdosed on laughing gas. 

OFFICIAL INTRODUCTION FROM THE FLICKER ALLEY HOMEPAGE:

Laurel & Hardy: Year Two

Regular price €40,95 EUR

2-DISC BLU-RAY EDITION

Following their initial pairing in early 1927, Laurel and Hardy ended their first year on top. Their success moving into 1928 galvanized the efforts of everyone at Hal Roach Studios (including famed director Leo McCarey), who proudly upped their game in support of the winning comedy duo. Whether wreaking accidental havoc as a two-man band, doing battle against one another as millionaire and butler, or even becoming grave robbers for a mad scientist, Laurel and Hardy prove in their second year that they have what it takes to not only win over audiences in the twilight of the silent era, but generate enough momentum to make a successful transition to “talkies” in 1929.

Although their names are synonymous with the very idea of comedy, few of the original negatives for Laurel and Hardy’s early silent work survive, elements only available from scattered sources throughout the world, often in substantially less than pristine shape. It took the team at Blackhawk Films four years to gather all surviving film elements, to meticulously compare them shot by shot, and to complete the best digital restorations possible. Today, these beloved shorts look as new as they did nearly a century ago.

Featuring all new restorations sourced from best available materials contributed by archives and collectors around the world restored by Blackhawk Films® and FPA Classics, this comprehensive deluxe Blu-ray 2-Disc collection features their ten 1928 films as a team and additional films from the Hal Roach Studios that showcase their final solo short film appearances, as well as the shift from silent films to films featuring music and synchronized sound effects.

Shorts on the Laurel & Hardy: Year Two set include:

Leave 'em Laughing 

The Finishing Touch

From Soup to Nuts

You're Darn Tootin'

Their Purple Moment

Should Married Men Go Home?

Early to Bed

Two Tars

Habeas Corpus

We Faw Down

Each film features a newly recorded score from some of the best silent film composers working today, including Andreas Benz, Neil Brand, Robert Israel, and Jean-François Zygel. The release is curated by film historians and Laurel and Hardy specialists; Randy Skretvedt, Richard W. Bann, Serge Bromberg, and Eric Lange.

BONUS MATERIALS INCLUDE:

Audio Commentary Tracks – For each film by historians and authors Randy Skretvedt and Richard W. Bann

Exclusive, Rare Audio – Featuring Anita Garvin, Thomas Benton Roberts, and Hal Roach, from personal interviews conducted by historian Randy Skretvedt

Additional Musical Scores – Alternate audio options, including fully restored original 1928 Vitaphone tracks on Habeas Corpus and We Faw Down, and vintage Blackhawk Films® scores on You're Darn Tootin' and Two Tars

Laurel & Hardy: On Location in Year Two – A video essay by historian John Bengtson on selected location exteriors

Now I’ll Tell One (1927) – A rare fragment of a Charley Chase two-reeler featuring appearances by both Stan & Ollie

Eve’s Love Letters (1927) – One of Stan Laurel’s final solo films, directed by Leo McCarey and written by Laurel himself, from rare 35 mm elements

Galloping Ghosts (1928) – Two surviving fragments of a rare solo Oliver Hardy comedy

A Pair of Tights (1929) – A short starring Anita Garvin and Marion Byron, who were teamed to try and replicate the success of Laurel and Hardy

George Mann’s Home Movies – From behind the scenes of Hal Roach Studios, including the filming of Should Married Men go Home? 

A Complete, 20-minute Interview – By Tony Thomas with Stan Laurel, recorded in January 1959, the year after Oliver Hardy’s death

Film Specific Image Galleries – Containing original publicity materials, press reviews, and rare production stills

Souvenir Booklet – Containing a new collection introduction by Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange; A look at the supporting players and other creative personnel in the world of Hal Roach Studios by historian Sara Imogen Smith; A new essay exploring the development of the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system in 1928 by Randy Skredvedt; and comprehensive notes on each film

English SDH Subtitles

Blu-ray Authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion

All Region Encoding (A,B,C)

Release Date: October 29, 2024

Format: Blu-ray

Region: ALL REGION

Directors: Leo McCarey, Clyde Bruckman, Edgar Kennedy, Emmett J. Flynn, James Parrott

Year: 1928

Language: Silent (English Intertitles)

Length: 212 mins.

UPC: 6-17311-68869-0

Official data from the Flicker Alley homepage.

AA: I have just watched the ten films from the main menu of the Laurel & Hardy: Year Two blu-ray box set. I have previously blogged about Laurel & Hardy: Year One. It was a highlight of the year, and the same ranking is inevitable for Year Two. In a multi-year enterprise, a terrific team of experts (see above) has collected the best materials of the beloved movies which have been circulating for decades in often mediocre, sometimes terrible condition. Like a phoenix, they now rise from the ashes in the Flicker Alley / Blackhawk Films project.

These films are called slapstick, which they are, but even more they are masterful character studies. The actors are fantastic, the ensemble playing seamless.

"Laughter is infectious" is a favourite Laurel & Hardy situation, already refined to perfection in Leave 'Em Laughing. "Nauru pidentää ikää" is a Finnish proverb, meaning "laughter prolongs life". The English expression would be "laughter is the best medicine". It has been said that nobody has brought more laughter to the world than Laurel and Hardy, and their silent shorts are a candidate for the funniest films ever made in terms of sheer laughter.

The Finishing Touch is an old favourite of mine. This time my biggest laughter was in sequence of the final examination when the delighted home-owner has just paid a generous reward to Laurel and Hardy. Then a bird settles on the chimney, causing a chain reaction of disintegration, and this is just the beginning of the end. 

In From Soup to Nuts, Anita Garvin, already a familiar presence in Laurel & Hardy films, rises to equal stature and comic energy. As the newly rich Mrs. Culpepper, the hostess at a high society dinner, she struggles with elementary etiquette and the ordeal of catching an elusive cherry. The distinction is that we are not laughing at her but with her, sharing her horror, pain and suffering.

In You're Darn Tootin' the exceptionally fine visual quality of the copy serves as a reminder and rises to a defining moment of the standard in which all the films should be imagined.

Their Purple Moment is the first movie in which Laurel and Hardy are married. The harridan wives are immediately at their blood-thirstiest. ("I'll carve him". The other carries a revolver). A favourite story concept, brilliantly recycled in Blotto. 

Should Married Men Go Home? has been digimastered from brilliant source materials. It is a comedy of daringly long and embarrassing waits balanced with mudslinging galore. The switch between a piece of wet turf and Edgar Kennedy's toupée... what a stupid but irresistible gag!

Although the Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy characters were firmly established, remarkable variations were possible. In From Soup to Nuts, after Hardy's second slip on the banana peel, Stan slips out of character, loses his temper and turns arrogant towards the high society dinner guests. 

In Early to Bed, when Hardy inherits a fortune, his character changes - or his hidden character is revealed. He turns into a bully, like the villains he used to play. He becomes mean and evil. He's not funny anymore. Stan starts to cry and would like to leave. It is not clear if this film is even a comedy.

Two Tars belongs to their epics of destruction. The demolition derby concept was already decades old, even Georges Méliès had excelled in it. This movie also foreshadows Godard (Weekend) and Tati (Trafic). One of the greatest "tit for tat" stories of all times, full of brilliant performances of excess. The oeuvre of Laurel & Hardy is an allegory of our world today, here at its most explicit.

Habeas Corpus to me is a minor piece, but it was the first Hal Roach film released with recorded sound (sound on disc), and the original Victor sound discs have been successfully synchronized. The soundtrack is a real bonus. It consists of popular classics, all detailed in the souvenir booklet. They make special sense in this context and the humoristic vintage arrangements of pieces like "Danse macabre" by Saint-Saëns, "Marche funèbre d'une marionnette" by Gounod and the seventh "Humoresque" by Dvořák sound right. It does not harm that they carry cinematic associations with Renoir, Hitchcock and Borzage.

The all-seeing and all-punishing wives return in All faw down. It is based on a familiar concept, later refined into perfection in the feature film Sons of the Desert. After coming home, before the boys learn that the theatre that they were supposed to visit has burned, Oliver entertains the wives with a run of its production numbers in pantomime, prompted by Stan behind their backs. The sequence parallels one of the greatest scenes in Pass the Gravy, also directed by Leo McCarey.

The marriage story is perplexing in a way similar with Early to Bed. There is not a drop of love. Instead the marriages are based on pure, undiluted hate. Even Oliver's hula hula dance does not help.

The spectacle of Hardy's expressions is at its most amazing.

When the truth finally comes to light, Stan is released from his agony and starts to laugh uncontrollably. Ollie tries to restrain him but can't help joining him in Homeric laughter. This only stops when the wives produce shotguns.

A giant effort has been taken to restore full versions, maximal visual quality and smooth transitions. All this makes better sense of rhythm and duration, and the dynamics of action and contemplation.

I have just read Laurence Leamer's assessment in Hitchcock's Blondes (2023) of Janet Leigh's performance in Psycho, mostly without dialogue. During the long ride into the night, we focus on her face. "Her face reads like a novel, telling tales within tales, exposing Marion's fear and guilt as she slowly realizes the magnitude of what she has done". Hitchcock encouraged Leigh and granted her an exceptional freedom to pursue her ideas. This resulted to a veritable adventure of the face behind the rainswept windshield. It was pure magic and pure silent cinema.

To me the most rewarding experience of the new L&H restorations concerns the exceptionally long facial close-ups, including Ollie's unique camera-looks. The fine visual quality helps appreciate them more, and the smoothness of the edit does justice to the duration.

Oliver Hardy's mastery in facial expressions has always been justly celebrated. In this viewing I paid more attention to Stan Laurel. His mercurial vitality is equal to Hardy's quicksilver talent.

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My remarks on Leo Kirch based releases of Hal Roach comedies:

Laurel & Hardy Collection Vol. 1-21 (Universal / Canal Plus / Kino Welt / KirchMedia) (2009 in Finland)

Hal Roach: Female Comedy Teams and Leo McCarey: Max Davidson Comedies (Edition Filmmuseum 2011)

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Wolfgang Jacobsen & Hans Helmut Prinzler: Hal Roach : Hommage zum 100. Geburtstag. Berlin: Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek / Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin, 1992. - For his centenary, Roach traveled to the Berlin Film Festival to receive the honorary award of the Berlinale Kamera for Lifetime Achievement. Based on Leo Kirch's Hal Roach Library, a tribute to Roach was mounted, which, alas, I failed to see, as I focused on the giant Babelsberg 80th anniversary retrospective. - Leo Kirch had established the Hal Roach Library in 1985. To the 1200 films of the Hal Roach productions, he owned the international rights - all except the American rights. Heinz Caloué and Richard W. Bann represent the KirchMedia in the book. - Richard W. Bann contributes also to the Blackhawk Films project.