Viimeiset rotannahat / [The Last Rat Skins] / Rare, Medium, Well Done

Viimeiset rotannahat. Impressio / De sista skinnena. FI (c) 1985 Filmiauer. P+D+SC: Anssi Mänttäri. DP: Heikki Katajisto - 1,66:1 - colour and b&w - lab: Johan Ankerstjerne. M: "Bad Morning Blues" (comp. Anssi Mänttäri, arr. Asko Mänttäri), "Uni tulee, uni tulee" (trad.) pres. A. Köster (voc) and Kollage. "Best With Beer" (Asko Mänttäri). CAST: Anssi Mänttäri (the man in the white suit), Sarina Röhr (the woman with a sound sleep), Taina Saikkonen (young intellectual woman), Riitta Havukainen (lecturer in semiotics), Eero Tuomikoski (Nuutinen, drunk CEO), Sanna-Kaisa Palo (Irma Manner, the woman who never stops talking), Aki Kaurismäki (Ville, son of the man in the white suit), Sallamaari Muhonen (Redhead), Marja Packalén (the ex-wife of the man in the white suit), Matti Pellonpää (father of the man in the white suit), Elina Hurme (Kaisa, the young moralistic woman), Eeva Eloranta (female theologist), Heikki Peltonen (male theologist), Ilkka Kylävaara (Väisänen, successful businessman), Titta Antti-Poika (Tiina, the woman with the car), Erkki Saarela (Pera, the good-natured man), Paavo Piskonen (Harri, the conceited man), Kristiina Repo (Seija Pikkaranen, the woman who hates poverty), Pirkko Hämäläinen (Riitta, the bitchy woman), Jyrki Kovaleff (the honest working man), Sanna Fransman (the woman next door), Kari Väänänen (psychiatrist), Ann-Cathrine Fröjdö (not just a skin). Viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 3 June 2009.

The image in the print varied from good to grainy. - A fascinating Bukowskian odyssey starring the director himself as the man in the white suit, who conquers almost any woman in a series of superficial relationships. With witty dialogue, the film is constantly interesting, and with a hidden despair beneath. - The framing story reveals the burned-out old man giving his account to a video camera. The white suit is now folded on the chair. - It is a satire on a life based on easy gratification, short attention span, self-centeredness, about always taking the easy way out. - This film was not a success at its time, but it has stood the test of time well. There is not a dull moment in it.

Toto

Toto / Toto. FI 1982. PC: Filmiauer Oy / Anssi Mänttäri. Ohjaus: Suvi-Marja Korvenheimo (= Anssi Mänttäri). SC: Suvi-Marja Korvenheimo, Tuovi Mäkipää-Hakola. DP: Heikki Katajisto - filmed on 16mm - prints blown up to 35mm. S-ED: Tuomo Kattilakoski. M: Asko Mänttäri. Lyrics to the theme song: Jukka Virtanen. ED: Marjatta Niiranen. S: Jouko Lumme, Paul Jyrälä. CAST: Juha Hyppönen (Eki), Paavo Piskonen (Pena), Mikko Hänninen (Reiska), Eeva Eloranta (Hanna, Eki's wife), Helena Haavisto (Pena's mother-in-law), Veronika Mattson (Krisse, Pena's wife), Virve Kauste (Mirkku), Sanna Fransman (Päivi), Liisa Halonen (Marja, Reiska's ex-wife), Pentti Auer (Kurt), Tuija Ahvonen (saleswoman), Pauli Virtanen (Lievonen), Paavo Liski, Kai Honkanen, Olli Tuominen (policemen), Susanna Haavisto (waitress), Tadaaki Kawata (Mr. Tokoshi), Masaaki Hashimoto (Mr. Iwasaki), Ilkka Kylävaara (writer), Reima Kekäläinen (artist), Henri Kapulainen (2. writer), Katriina Rinne, Kaisa Karikoski (women in the pub), Kai Salminen (director Vornanen), Heidi Kari (secretary), Annette Arlander, Ulla-Maija Tamminen (girls in the pub), Ilkka Vanne (foreign businessman), Hannele Laaksonen (callgirl), Kalevi Immonen (violinist), Heidi Blom (Pena's daughter), Taina Saikkonen (Taina), Tiina Bergström (Tiina). 82 min. A vintage print with Swedish subtitles screened at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 21 Nov 2008. Introduced by Anssi Mänttäri hosted by Martti-Tapio Kuuskoski. Also Paavo Piskonen was present in the screening. - Good print with a pleasant, successful 16mm blowup look. - The trio of grown-up men on the loose has been compared with Cassavetes' Husbands. Pena has become a father (again), he hangs out with his car salesman colleague Eki, and they join with their drifter friend Reiska. Reiska wins big time in the horse races, and they go on a binge, planning a trip. They try to pick up women, but only Eki has any success. - The images of the race track in the beginning and in the end bring the story into ironic relief. - The theme song of Asko Mänttäri and Jukka Virtanen would deserve publication in its own right. - It's a film about alcohol and alcoholism. - There is a good solid drive in this tale of the absurd alcoholic binge.

Palava enkeli

Ängel i flammor / Burning Angel. FI (c) 1984 Skandia-Filmi. P: Kaj Holmberg. D: Lauri Törhönen. SC: Hannele Törrönen, Claes Andersson, Lauri Törhönen. DP: Esa Vuorinen - Fujicolor - 1:1,66. AD: Anu Maja. M: Hector. ED: Olli Soinio. S: Johan Hake. Thanks: Nikkilä Hospital, Laakso Hospital, Kellokoski Hospital, Aurora hospital. CAST: Riitta Viiperi (psychiatric nurse Tuulikki Merinen), Eeva Eloranta (Katariina, mental patient), Tom Wentzel (psychiatrist Johan Kukkola, "Juhana"), Juuso Hirvikangas (Mikko, nurse), Elina Hurme (Karin, best friend from the nurse training school), Helena Notkonen (Saimi, patient), Yrjö Pelkonen (Veikko, chauffeur), Marja-Leena Kouki (Maila, nurse), Eeva Mäkinen (Irja, assistant nurse), Hellevi Seiro (Hellevi Härkönen) (Leila, nurse), Vieno Saaristo (Tuulikki's mother), Ritva Arvelo (head nurse), Marjatta Lohikoski (psychologist), Carl Mesterton (chief physician), Annikki Viitala (headmaster of the nurse training school), Jussi Parviainen (man in the discotheque), Ilse Stubbs (assistant nurse), Lasse Lind (colonel, patient), Katja Kiuru, Nina Mattila, Aila Pervonsuo, Tuovi Sundell (patients), Kristiina Kalla (Juhana's girlfriend), Heikki Leppänen, Pauli Tervo (policemen). Raimo Häyrinen (voice of the radio commentator), Heikki Harma (voice of the disc jockey). 105 min. In the presence of Lauri Törhönen, interviewed by Markku Varjola. Vintage print viewed in Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 12 Nov 2008. - Vintage print with good definition of light, good colour, a scratch through the image during the second half of the film. - LT: "This was my feature film debut, although even my school film was a 50 min fiction film. A friend of mine studies psychology and had experience from a mental institution beyond Joensuu, called Paihola [in the film: Kaihola]. There was a true story behind the script, and because of it, legislation was changed [that a nurse can be a patient in her own ward]."
MV: This was new material in Finnish cinema, maybe only in Radio tulee hulluksi [The Radio Goes Crazy] had treated it before, in a comic way. LT: "Variety lauded Riitta Viiperi as the most photogenic Nordic female star since Liv Ullmann. But the film had an unknown director, and it received weird reviews. But then it begun to grow, 7. week was better than the 1. [It became the most popular film of the season]. I myself went to Maxim to see it, head deeply buried in my cap, and behind me there was a strange row of spectator, with a brisk lady in both ends. I then learned that from the Nikkilä mental hospital etc. there were whole groups who came to see the film, and it was also used for on-the-job supervision."
MV: The 1980s was the record decade of debut directors. You opened new paths in production, the American way. LT: "Part of the debut directors never continued beyond the 1980s. Myself, I did more of the artistic stuff for tv, because there, the films always received a million spectators. For the cinemas, it was more about entertainment. Esa Vuorinen was my teacher. [Lauri Törhönen was second assistant director in Warren Beatty's Reds, 1981]. Reds was the craziest adventure on can have, but I learned the American production methods: timetables, shooting schedules, location plans. Riisuminen [The Undressing] I did in 12 shooting days."
MV: What about the technical development. LT: "Esa Vuorinen is a great artist, the finest Nordic cinematographer alive, he has worked a lot in Sweden. Film-making has been compared with a flight to the moon in the complexity of the logistics".
The young nurse Tuulikki (Riitta Viiperi) comes to a mental hospital and is put in charge of an incurably ill patient Katariina (Eeva Eloranta) in the closed ward. Katariina is obsessed with fire, refuses to drink, and has manic outbursts. While there is a masked ball on the other side of the lake, Katariina dresses as an angel, sets herself to fire and drowns in the lake. Shattered, Tuulikki herself is unbalanced and becomes a patient in her own ward. In the final image we see her vanish into the happy crowd of a summer music festival. - Still one of the rare Finnish films that portray psychotherapy in a serious way. There is much that is worthy in the performances of the actors. The cinematography is elegant and consistently expressive. - There would be demand for this film in the dvd market among professionals of psychotherapy.