Tilinteko

Uppgörelse / The Final Arrangement / [Un règlement de comptes] / [The Final Account]. FI (c) 1987 Villealfa. P: Aki Kaurismäki. D: Veikko Aaltonen. SC: Veikko Aaltonen, Aki Kaurismäki. DP: Timo Salminen - Eastmancolor - 1:1,85.
Live performance: Markus Allan: "Syyspihlajan alla".
Oldies records: "Rattaanpyörä" perf. Ilkka Rinne and Rytmi-yhtye. "Harmaat silmät" perf. Henry Theel. "Pieni kukkanen" perf. Laila Kinnunen. "You Are My Thrill" perf. Billie Holiday. "Pojat" perf. Laila and Ritva Kinnunen.
Jussi Björling tracks: "Du är min hela värld", "Tra voi belle".
Hymn at the church: Hymn 440 "Jo vääryys vallan saapi".
Filming locations: Suodenniemi, Kankaanpää, Lavia (in the middle between Tampere and Pori).
Cast: Juhani Niemelä (Kalervo Mäkinen, "Nieminen"), Esko Nikkari (Timo Varjola, mayor), Kaija Pakarinen (Leena Palo), Seppo Mäki (Reidar). 72 min. An excellent vintage print with perfect colour. At Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 17 Dec 2008. - Two men commit grand burglary. Varjola murders the two drivers of the mail bus and tries to kill his companion, Nieminen. Seven years after, Nieminen, on leave from the prison, returns to the town where Varjola is now mayor, a father, and a pillar of society (church, Lions Club, etc.). - An interesting film in the Villealfa canon. Veikko Aaltonen has a good grip on the ironic, laconic, antirealistic Melville style of the crime movie. There is a good steady cinematic drive all through the picture. The collaboration with the cinematographer Timo Salminen is perfect and functional. There are also affinities and touches common to the Villealfa school, such as 1) the terse, telegraph-style dialogue, 2) the almost autistic passivity of the male protagonist, 3) the man is also passive towards the woman, 4) the imagery and the colour scale are strong and recognizably like Salminen's work with Aki Kaurismäki, 5) the importance of music records and the jukebox, 6) Kekkonen, 7) the final insane act of violence of the passive protagonist. - The most lively figures are Esko Nikkari as the former robber and murderer, now a pillar of the society, soon promised a career as a minister of justice, and Kaija Pakarinen as the hairdresser who needs to take the initiative in seeking male company. - Veikko Aaltonen, himself, has stated that the screenplay was unfinished. The film was shot in ten days. - Well made but does not finally quite make enough sense.

Nonstop

Nonstop / Nonstop. FI (c) 1987 Filmitakomo. P: Klaus Heydemann. D+SC: Kari Paljakka. DP: Tahvo Hirvonen - 16mm - b&w. COST: Jaana Mertama. M: Jussi Hirvi; Hanoi Rocks. S: Markku Honkanen. ED: Alvardo Pardo. Cast: Esko Nikkari (man), Armi Sillanpää (woman), Carl-Kristian Rundman (young man), Jane Sarlund (girl), Mikko Rasila (ticketseller woman), Niko Saarela (boy), Vesa Vierikko (bum), Pertti Sveholm (father). 20 min. Print: SES, with English subtitles, viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 29 Oct 2008. - In the presence of Kari Paljakka interviewed by Markku Varjola. - Print ok, focus problem in the screening. - KP: the film was inspired by M.C. Escher [1898-1972] with his impossible play with the dimensions. The idea was to use the third dimension of the cinema, time, in the same way. The film is based on the rondo idea. Together with Dildo, the film was planned to be a part of the trilogy, but the third film was not made. There was also an inspiration of the anamorphic art of the 17th century (not the same thing as anamorphic cinema image). - A never-ending film which returns to the same moments but with different consequences. A parody of film drama with passion and murder. One of the locations is Cinema Takaportti [Back Door], where soft core films were shown, presumably non stop (the current film seems to be Emmanuelle 5). The story spins in an impossible circle. "Where are you going, wife dear". "Day screening again". "This will hardly ever stop". "Non stop". "Back in a moment".

Pekko ja unissakävelijä

A-27773 / G / FI 1997 / Koivusalo, Timo / comedy

Pekko ja unissakävelijä / Pekko and the Sleepwalker. PC: Artista Filmi. CAST: Timo Koivusalo, Satu Silvo, Esko Nikkari. 92’. 1,66. DIST: Finnkino. Viewed at VET, Helsinki, on Tuesday, 16 September 1997. BOMB. An affable atmosphere, the magic light of the never-setting sun of the Finnish summer, the sanguine beauty of Satu Silvo, and the ensemble playing of a reliable cast of popular actors are among the joys provided by the fifth installment of the Pekko series. The twin plot is about Pipsa (Satu Silvo) being drugged to a sleepwalker by a scheming doctor and about the village policeman’s fits of jealousy as his wife visits a health spa. In the finale Pipsa meets her mother she never knew. The comedy of Pekko, himself, the Finnish Tora-San, the sympathetic loner, is an acquired taste. Taste is the keyword: it requires taste to handle bad taste. This often gets only vulgar and embarrassing.