Gone with the Wind

Tuulen viemää / Borta med vinden. USA © 1939 Selznick International. EX: David O. Selznick. D: Victor Fleming. SC: Sidney Howard – based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell (1936). DP (Technicolor): Ernest Haller, Ray Rennahan, Wilfred M. Cline. AD: William Cameron Menzies; Lyle Wheeler. Cost: Walter Plunkett. FX: Jack Cosgrove, Fred Albin, Arthur Johns. M: Max Steiner. ED: Hal C. Kern, James E. Newcom. Cast: Vivien Leigh (Scarlett O’Hara), Clark Gable (Rhett Butler), Olivia de Havilland (Melanie Hamilton), Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilkes), Hattie McDaniel (Mammy), Butterfly McQueen (Prissy), Thomas Mitchell (Gerald O’Hara), Evelyn Keyes (Suellen O’Hara), Ona Munson (Belle Watling), Ward Bond (Yankee captain). 232 min - screened with a 20 min intermission at 105 min. A Finnish release print of the 50th anniversary version (1989) with Finnish / Swedish subtitles (n.c.) at widescreen height viewed at Cinema Orion (History of the Cinema), Helsinki, 19 Dec 2010

Watching Gone with the Wind the 70th anniversary double blu-ray a year ago I realized I would soon need to revisit the film on a cinema screen. In my cinephilic youth Gone with the Wind was rarely mentioned among film aficionados, and I had a perception of it as a piece of lightweight mainstream romantic entertainment. (I started seeing GWTW first in the 1980s.) Still a common perception of GWTW, based on its poster images, would probably be that it is a period love story or historical romance.

In our well-attended screening the young audience (maybe seeing GWTW in a cinema for the first time) was obviously delighted, and I think a big part of the delight was based on the consistent drive of the film to break stereotypical romantic expectations. The film is full of subtle anti-romantic humour of a unique kind. The audience perceived this immediately, and the sympathetic laugher was essential to the experience. The top example is Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara's honeymoon: it got the biggest laughs.

Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara are not heroes. Rather one might call them anti-heroes.

Rather than a romantic film GWTW is anti-romantic. There is no real love story. All her life, Scarlett has loved only Ashley Wilkes, but after Melanie's death she realizes that Ashley has always only loved Melanie, and Scarlett's feeling has been an illusion. Rhett's deepest love is for Bonnie, his daughter with Scarlett. Bonnie changes Rhett from a reckless adventurer to a devoted father. Bonnie's death breaks Rhett's heart. The film ends with disappointment, loneliness and desolation for everybody. Rhett and Scarlett have lost their illusions, but their spirit is unbroken: "Tomorrow is another day".

GWTW is not an aggressively racist film but it fails to tell the truth about the conditions of slavery. It fails to condemn lynching in its veiled and indirect Ku Klux Klan sequence. The positive black characters are portrayed only in their relationships with their white masters and mistresses.

GWTW is a film about the Civil War without a single combat scene. We see the devastation of the war from the women's viewpoint.

Scarlett O'Hara is a portrait of a capitalist. She saves Tara by becoming a top manager of a sawmill, necessary for the reconstruction of the South. Her second marriage is for money only.

GWTW has sold more tickets than any other film of the Western world. In Finland it was released first in 1950. For the Finnish viewer the parallel would be the Niskavuori saga, the cycle of plays written by Hella Wuolijoki, started in the same year 1936 when GWTW the novel was written. Of the plays, seven films have been made. The Niskavuori estate would be the parallel for Tara, the Niskavuori mistresses Loviisa and Heta could be compared with Scarlett, and in the characters played by Tauno Palo parallels could be examined for Rhett Butler as portrayed by Clark Gable.

The special love of the land is shown as a characteristic of the Irish heritage.

Rhett Butler can be compared with Rick Blaine in Casablanca. Same initials even.

GWTW was produced when the Production Code was at its severest. Yet prostitution is a major theme. Belle Watling's bordello is an important location. There is even a sequence which might be impossible to produce in a mainstream film today: Rhett rapes Scarlett (shown only before and after). Never is Scarlett so completely radiant, relaxed and happy as after that night.

The performances of Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable are great. But frequent viewers of GWTW start to realize that the best role of the picture is that of Melanie and the finest performance is that of Olivia De Havilland as Melanie. For me that realization happened a year ago.

In the print viewed today close-ups look fine. Otherwise there is a duped quality. The print has been struck from a source where the match of the colour separations is imperfect. The Finnish subtitles seem like they have been taken from an old translation with Tarzanese for the dialogue of the black people.

The Best of the Year 2010 (Sight & Sound)

Patricio Guzmán: Nostalgia de la luz / Nostalgia for the Light (CL/FR/DE 2010).

Sight & Sound (January 2011), based on a poll of 85 international critics.

1. The Social Network (David Fincher, US)
2. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, TH/GB/FR/DE/ES/NL)
3. Another Year (Mike Leigh, GB)
4. Carlos (Olivier Assayas, FR/DE/BG)
5. The Arbor (Clio Barnard, GB)
=6. Winter's Bone (Debra Granik, US)
=6. I Am Love / Io sono l'amore (Luca Guadagnino, IT)
=8. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu / Autobiografia lui Nicolae Ceausescu (Andrei Ujica, RO)
=8. Film socialisme (Jean-Luc Godard, CH/FR)
=8. Nostalgia for the Light / Nostalgia de la luz (Patricio Guzmán, FR/DE/CL)
=8. Poetry / Si (Lee Changdong, KR)
=8. A Prophet / Un prophète (Jacques Audiard, FR/IT)

The most fascinating result of the poll is the extensive compilation of experts' comments in the magazine and, best of all, the complete and unabridged remarks on the Sight & Sound homepage.

In Finland we used to see a good cross-section of the best international films in regular cinema distribution until the 1980s. The last decade was the turning point: most of the films generally voted to be the best of the decade were never released in cinemas, several of them not even on dvd with Finnish subtitles.

In our land festivals such as Midnight Sun Film Festival, Helsinki Film Festival, and Espoo Ciné have become more and more important venues for the best contemporary cinema. This year, our "best of the decade" cycle in Cinema Orion is different from previous "decade's best" retrospectives because most of the prints had to be imported.

So far only three of the Sight & Sound top ten films of 2010 have been released in Finland (The Social Network, Io sono l'amore, Un prophète). Certainly others have already been and the rest will be screened in Finnish festivals, but festival screenings are not enough. In the festival atmosphere a suitably strange film can flourish. But as a part of a viewing marathon films may suffer, and there is no freedom to select the proper mood for the proper film.

Paha perhe / Bad Family

Aleksi Salmenperä: Paha perhe / Bad Family (FI 2010) Ville Virtanen (Mikael), Pihla Viitala (Tilda) and Lauri Tilkanen (Daniel)-

En dålig familj.
    FI © 2009 Sputnik. [Premiere 29 Jan 2010.]. P: Aki Kaurismäki. D+SC: Aleksi Salmenperä. DP: Tuomo Hutri. AD: Markku Pätilä. Cost: Ella Brigatti. Make-up: Marjut Samulin. M: Ville Anselmi Tanttu. S: Tero Malmberg. ED: Samu Heikkilä. P manager: Mark Lwoff.
     Post-production: Kari Manns / colour grading (Finn-Lab Oy). Tuija Kotamäki / negative cutting (Finn-Lab Oy). Olli Pärnänen / sound mixing (Meguru Film Sound). Pentti Keskimäki / TV master colour definition (Digital Film Finland). Joonas Kiviharju / yksivalosiirto (Digital Film Finland).
     Actors in the main roles: Ville Virtanen (Mikael), Lauri Tilkanen (Daniel), Pihla Viitala (Tilda), Vera Kiiskinen (Laura), Niki Seppälä (Milo), Ismo Kallio (Jaan), Tomi Salmela (Kari).
     With: Minna Suuronen (Jaan's nurse), Reino Nordin (Samuli), Sara Paavolainen (Anna), Asko Sarkola (Erik), Pertti Sveholm (Jaakko), Henriikka Salo (Seija), Matti Onnismaa (man), Aaro Wichmann (Joni), Merja Larivaara (consul), Juhani Niemelä (Eino), Kaarina Hazard (nurse), Janne Reinikainen (nurse), Antto Melasniemi (cook).
     95 min. A Sandrew Metronome Distribution Finland print without subtitles viewed at Cinema Orion (The Jussi Awards), Helsinki, 17 Dec 2010.

AA: One of the most highly regarded Finnish films of this year, The Bad Family is made with a bite. The visual concept is strong. There is a consistent drive in the visual storytelling, and The Bad Family has this year's most memorable final image in a Finnish film (Mikael standing alone by the roadside his trouser legs fluttering in the wind). Both the vision and the sound of the film are exceptionally expressive. There are interesting inventions in the soundtrack, culminating in a ukulele interpretation of Bach and an impressive number for horns. The performances by Ville Virtanen, Pihla Viitala, Vera Kiiskinen, and the others are strong.

This is an inferno family. There is everything except love and happiness. The backstory is the impossible match of Mikael the father who is a judge and the mother who was a hippie who flew to Copenhagen. The film starts 20 years later with the funeral of the mother. The daughter Tilda is a young woman now. Mikael sends his current wife (Vera Kiiskinen) and their little son to a top hotel for the time being.

Tilda is received by Mikael together with his son Daniel, a high school student preparing for his matriculation examination. Tilda is not understood by Mikael at all but by Daniel all too well. The fundament of the story is Mikael's suspicion of sibling incest.

Mikael is evidently an excellent judge for whom it is paramount to be in absolute control. He exercises a lot with a rowing machine, and he has exquisite taste in everything from music to interior decoration.

But Mikael is emotionally handicapped. Has no "emotional intelligence". He really puts an effort to dedicate a lot of time to his son Daniel, and he even takes a leave of absence from his position at the court of appeal for that reason. But whether giving fencing lessons or driving instructions he only succeeds in paralyzing Daniel. The relaxed Tilda provides Daniel a much-needed valve from the constant controlling tension.

There is a fine sense of satire, irony, and farce in this movie. A delicious sequence is where Daniel helps a driver by the roadside to change summer tires although the driver does not need help. It seems to be about Daniel having to prove to himself that he is a nice guy.

I had the feeling that there is a profound secret personal agenda in the film, but what that agenda might be I have no clue of. The Bad Family is a movie of a family from which love is missing. At first viewing I failed to connect deeply.

A beautiful definition of colour in the print screened.

Odna / Alone

Одна / Yksin / Ensam. SU 1931. PC: Sojuzkino (Leningrad). D+SC: Grigori Kozintsev & Leonid Trauberg. DP: Andrei Moskvin. M: Dmitri Shostakovitsh (Opus 26). S: Lev Arnstam. AD: Jevgeni Enei. CAST: Jelena Kuzmina (Jelena, teacher), Pjotr Sobolevski (Pjotr, Jelena's fiancé), Sergei Gerasimov (chairman of the village council), Marija Babanova, Van Ljui-Sjan (Bey), Janina Zheimo (young woman), Boris Tsirkov. Original duration 91 min, KAVA: parts 1–7 ja 9, music version, 80 min, e-subtitles in Finnish by Onni Nääppä. Viewed at Cinema Orion (Carte blanche à Kanerva Cederström), Helsinki, 16 Dec 2010.

Viewed for the first time an early interpretation of the Soviet cinema's favoured "first teacher" theme. The young Leningrad teacher is commanded to the Altai mountains, to milieux also familiar from the films of Vasili Shukshin. The movie begins in an atmosphere of social idealism, but as soon as we get to Altai it gets more interesting. It is Communist propaganda but not of the worst kind. The film has playful, farcical, and eccentric aspects as well as serious, propagandist and tragic ones. The loudspeaker in the square of Leningrad has an ambivalent function, with Orwellian overtones. The ancient customs of the Altai (the shamans, the sheep farming, the labour tools) are in contrast with the modern ways imported from Leningrad. Jelena Kuzmina's performance as the teacher is moving in this Bildungsroman role (the teacher is taught as well as the children). In our print the 8. reel is missing with the teacher being frozen in the tundra. In the final reel an airplane comes to take the fatally injured teacher to a hospital in the city. - In the beginning the Kozintsev-Trauberg-Shostakovich touch is unrecognizable. But after 20 minutes or so also Shostakovich's music gets interesting, often very exciting, original, and different. It is playful and modernist, bringing new dimensions to the story. - Our print has a duped quality, and the 8. reel is missing although not lost from other existing prints.

Shakhmatnaya goryachka / Chess Fever

Vsevolod Pudovkin: Шахматная горячка / Chess Fever (SU 1925) with Vladimir Fogel as the victim of chess fever.

Шахматная горячка / Shahmatnaja gorjatshka / Shakkikuume / Schackfebern. SU 1925. PC: Mezhrabpom-Rus. D: Vsevolod Pudovkin, Nikolai Shpikovski. SC: Shpikovski. DP: Anatoli Golovnja. CAST: Vladimir Fogel (man caught by chess fever), Anna Zemtsova (his fiancée), Jakov Protazanov (pharmacist), Juli Raizman (pharmacist's assistant), Fedor Ozep, Boris Barnet, Konstantin Eggert, J. Raoul Capablanca. A KAVA print with Finnish subtitles by Kirsi-Annele Tykkyläinen, 542 m /20 fps/ 24 min, viewed at Cinema Orion (Carte blanche à Kanerva Cederström), Helsinki, 16 Dec 2010

AA: Revisited a funny comedy of monomania, obsession, and hyperbole. There is a gag in each scene, and each gag is related with chess fever. The hero is so obsessed with chess that he forgets his wedding date. (Yet another case of the cinema's obsession with the subject of "the cancelled wedding"!). The comedy proceeds to grand tragedy with plans of suicide via poisoning and drowning. "But, however, maybe love is stronger than chess, after all". "Let's have a round of the Sicilian". Beautifully shot in the winter, and there is a good definition of light in this used print.

Night Mail

GB 1936. PC: General Post Office Film Unit. P: John Grierson. D+SC: Basil Wright, Harry Watt. DP: H.E. Fowle, Jonah Jones. ED: R.Q. McNaughton. M: Benjamin Britten. Poem: W.H. Auden. 24 min. A BFINA print screened at 1,2:1 at Cinema Orion (History of the Cinema), Helsinki, 15 Dec 2010.

Revisited a classic work of the British documentary movement. I did not remember that the first 20 minutes are just sober, straight (and excellent) documentary as exciting as an action film. This is the story of a mail train from London to Scotland, a celebration of professionalism. First during the last three minutes does the film burst into a special poetic mode. A celebration of modernity and a masterpiece of montage. The print is mostly good with some shots with weaker definition.

The Song of Ceylon

Basil Wright: The Song of Ceylon (GB 1934). Part 1: The Buddha. The film opens with a superimposed montage of panoramic shots over palm leaves to an extreme low angle shot of a giant Buddha. My screenshot.

Basil Wright: The Song of Ceylon (GB 1934). Part 1: The Buddha. The film opens with a superimposed montage of panoramic shots over palm leaves to an extreme low angle shot of a giant Buddha. My screenshot.

Ceylonin laulu. GB 1935. PC: General Post Office (GPO) Film Unit. P: John Grierson. D+DP+ED: Basil Wright. M: Walter Leigh. Commentary: from Robert Knox's travel journal (1680). Reader: Lionel Wendt. S: Cavalcanti. 40 min. Screened at 1,2:1. A 35 mm BFINA print viewed at Finnish Film Archive, Orion (History of the Cinema), Helsinki, 15 Dec 2010.

Revisited one of the most beautiful (British) films of all time. A poetical masterpiece in four episodes: 1. The Buddha, 2. The Virgin Island, 3. The Voices of Commerce, and 4. The Apparel of God. It is a film of nobility and dignity.

...

The first episode follows the passage from devil worship to Buddhism. In the second episode we witness traditional ways with elephants, fishing, sawmills, and dancing schools. It is a celebration of an ancient way of life. In the third episode we proceed to industrialization: forestry (with elephants), cocoanut industry, tea industry, modern communication (telephone wires). In the final episode we return to Buddhism. There is a sense of music, dance, and rhythm in this wonderful film. Largely a beautiful definition of light in this print.

...

BFI SCREENONLINE: THE SONG OF CEYLON

Song of Ceylon (1934)

Directed by WRIGHT, Basil

Production Company GPO Film Unit

Sponsors Ceylon Tea Propaganda Bureau

  Empire Tea Marketing Board

A John Grierson Production GRIERSON, John

Asst. Direction TAYLOR, John

With Music by LEIGH, Walter

Voice [Narrator] WENDT, Lionel

Recording PAWLEY, E. A.

Photography (uncredited) WRIGHT, Basil

Editor (uncredited) WRIGHT, Basil

Sound Supervisor (uncredited) CAVALCANTI, Alberto

SYNOPSIS 

The first part of the film depicts the religious life of the Sinhalese, interlinking the Buddhist rituals with the natural beauty of Ceylon. Opening with a series of pans over palm leaves, we then gradually see people journey to Adam's Peak, a centre of Buddhist pilgrimage for over two hundred years. This is continually intercut with images of surrounding natural beauty and a series of pans of a Buddhist statue. Part two focuses on the working life of the Sinhalese, again continually stressing their intimate connection to the surrounding environment. We see people engaging in pottery, woodcarving and the building of houses, whilst children play. The third part of the film introduces the arrival of modern communications systems into the fabric of this 'natural' lifestyle, heralded by experimental sounds and shots of industrial working practices. Finally, in the last part of the film, we return to the religious life of the Sinhalese, where people dress extravagantly in order to perform a ritual dance. The film ends as it began, panning over palm trees.

ANALYSIS

Made by the GPO Film Unit and sponsored by both the Empire Tea Marketing Board and the Ceylon Tea Board, Song of Ceylon is one of the most critically acclaimed products of the documentary film movement. It was hailed at the time of its release by author and film critic Graham Greene as a cinematic masterpiece, and received the award for best film at the International Film Festival in Brussels, 1935.

The film is a sophisticated documentary, notable for its experimentation with sound. It features crucial input from Alberto Cavalcanti, who helped with the soundtrack, as well as composer Walter Leigh, who experimented in the studio to create a number of sound effects.

The film's soundtrack was carefully put together in a studio because technical limitations precluded the ability to record synchronised sound. Leigh constructed a number of 'exotic' sounds, reflecting ceremonial practice and interweaved them with anthropological narration. At times these sounds are disconcerting in the way that they are used: gong sounds, for instance, are treated and manipulated to increase their harshness. The most striking use of experimental sound occurs in the third section of the film, which depicts the effects of telecommunications systems on the native lifestyle. A montage of industrial sounds and electronic waves are mixed together, creating an expressive, yet rather dissonant, sense of the encroachment of modernity.

The third section of the film is the most disconcerting of the four sections and initially contrasts with the other sections. Yet overall the film is structured in a 'circular' manner, emphasising that continuity can occur despite the onset of an initially alien way of life.. The first two sections focus on native rituals and working practices, always stressing the Sinhalese in relation to their natural environment. The modernity of the third sequence initially implies that nature and tradition are endangered by advanced industrialism, but in the last section we return again to the natives partaking in another ceremony, while industrial sounds become merged with the 'traditional' sounds.

Ultimately, then, Song of Ceylon imparts the message that nature and native traditions can coexist harmoniously with modernity. The film proposes a benign, rather than ruthless, message of progress, stressing the benefits of technological innovations. At the end of the film, the camera pans over palm leaves, while a gong sound is also heard, reprising images and sounds featured at the start.

Jamie Sexton

*This film is included in the BFI DVD compilation 'Addressing The Nation: The GPO Film Unit Collection Volume 1'.

BFI SCREENONLINE: THE SONG OF CEYLON

Jos rakastat / If You Love

Neil Hardwick: Jos rakastat / If You Love (FI 2010). Elli Vallinoja (Ada / Anna). Chike Ohanwe (Toni). Poster: Juonifilmi Oy.

Om du älskar.

    FI © 2010 Juonifilmi Oy. P: Jarkko Hentula.
    D: Neil Hardwick. SC: Katja Kallio - based on the idea of Jarkko Hentula - inspired by the fairy-tale "Adalmiinan helmi" ("Adalmina's Pearl") by Sakari Topelius (from Läsning för barn, 1865-1896). DP: Pini Hellstedt - RED - digital intermediate at Generator Post - scope. AD: Kaisa Mäkinen. COST: Elina Kolehmainen. Make-up: Marjut Samulin. M: Leri Leskinen. Song list beyond the jump break. Choreography: Osku Heiskanen. ED: Harri Ylönen. S: Pasi Peni.
    Cast: Elli Vallinoja (Ada / Anna), Chike Ohanwe (Toni), Jessica Penttilä (Ada at 9), Taneli Mäkelä (Ada'a father), Satu Silvo (Marja-Leena), Minttu Mustakallio (Ada's mother), Meri Nenonen (Hanna), Jenni Hakala (Mervi Takala), Henni-Liisa Stam (Muru), Anna Laulumaa (Milla). Fay Eskin (Toni's mother), Mateus Tembe (Toni's father), Renée Böök ja Matilda Elo (Toni's little sisters), Matti Onnismaa (Ola), Sarah Kivi (Afya), Soma Manuchar (Inaya), Esa-Matti Loukola (Jonne), Veeti Kallio (clown / hat seller).
    123 min.
    A FS Film print deposited with KAVA without subtitles, 35 mm print viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki (The Jussi Awards), 15 Dec 2010.

I had been scared by the previews (trailers) from seeing this Finnish musical, and now that I finally saw it I was positively surprised. The fairy-tale by Topelius tells about a selfish princess who loses her memory and ends up as a shepherdess. In this modernization the minister's daughter drives recklessly, there is a crash fatal to the other party, and Ada loses her memory. She starts a new life as Anna the nurse, and falls in love with a boy who happens to be the victim's son. In this contemporary story, the father and the son are black. This is a musical with a serious theme, about taking responsibility of one's actions.

Neil Hardwick is a writer and a top theatre and television director of many of the most popular shows in Finnish tv history. This is his first cinema film, boldly in the musical genre, which has been rare in Finnish film history. This is a modern musical apparently inspired by the Dennis Potter shows. There are some 20 production numbers based on some of the most popular Finnish songs of the last 40 years. The title of the film is from the song "Jos rakastat" by Kaj Chydenius and Matti Rossi from 1971 with associations to a time of idealistic political activism. The theme song has lost none of its impact and keeps growing in transgenerational resonances.

There is much to like. The young leads are inexperienced and the film is too long, less would be more. I like the two endings best. The two "draw each other's images in the sand" in the impressive final aerial shot of the narrative. When the final credits roll almost all of the original artists of the songs appear in a spoof music and dance video.

The movie has been shot with a digital RED camera, and I have no quarrel with the visual quality. There is an emphasis on warm colours, and it has been successfully realized. I think I had been turned off by the garish look of the trailer, but the movie itself is not garish.

The song list is beyond the jump break:

Triumph des Willens

Triumph des Willens

Das Dokument vom Reichsparteitag 1934

Hergestellt im Auftrage des Führers

Gestaltet von Leni Riefenstahl

Am 5. September 1934

20 Jahre nach dem Ausbruch des Weltkrieges

16 Jahre nach dem Anfang deutschen Leidens

19 Monate nach dem Beginn der deutschen Wiedergeburt

flog Adolf Hitler wiederum nach Nürnberg um Heerschau abzuhalten über seine Getreuen.

Triumph of the Will. 

DE 1935. 

With e-subtitles in Finnish by AA. 

Viewed at Cinema Orion (History of the Cinema), Helsinki, 14 Dec 2010.

Revisited the beginning.

Every year in our History of the Cinema series we show one Fascist film. We have shown Roberto Rossellini's Un pilota ritorna, Hans Steinhoff's Hitlerjunge Quex, and Goffredo Alessandrini's Noi vivi, and now, Triumph des Willens. None of these films were released in Finland.

For me, Triumph des Willens is a horror film about a cultured people being degraded into a mob before our very eyes.

This autumn I have been reading Samuel Fuller's memoirs, and he tells how fierce the defense of Germany was in every town and village even after it was evident that Germany had lost the war. Riefenstahl's film helps understand.

The cinematography by Sepp Allgeier and his team is excellent, and the music arrangement by Herbert Windt is profoundly moving.

There is no explicit racism and militarism in this film, which portrays the NSDAP as the harbinger of peace, prosperity and restoration. But we can sense the threat.

I believe one reason for the fact that Triumph des Willens was never generally screened in Finland (it was seen only in closed screenings arranged by the German embassy) was that in our country it would have largely functioned as anti-German and anti-Nazi propaganda.

Soviet films started to be seen after the WWII, and they functioned as excellent anti-Soviet propaganda.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: THE FINNISH FILM ARCHIVE PROGRAM NOTE BY ANTTI ALANEN:

Kauas pilvet karkaavat / Drifting Clouds

FI 1996. D: Aki Kaurismäki. With English subtitles. Viewed at Cinema Orion (Aki Kaurismäki), Helsinki, 14 Dec 2010. - Revisited the ending of the first film in Aki Kaurismäki's "Finnish trilogy", about unemployment, starring Kati Outinen and Kari Väänänen, dedicated to the memory of Matti Pellonpää. A neo-Capraesque tale in Kurosawaesque colour. These films communicate with the eyes, the looks. The title of the film comes from the song "Pilvet karkaa, niin minäkin" ("Clouds Escape, So Do I") by Rauli Somerjoki, with lyrics by the poet Jarkko Laine, heard during the final credits. - It is a pleasure to see the full colour of Timo Salminen's cinematography in a film print.

Fantasia 2000 (2010 blu-ray) - Fantasia (1940) (2010 blu-ray) - Disney, Dalí and Sibelius

 

Walt Disney & Salvador Dalí: Destino (US 1945 / 2003). Over 150 original images by Salvadór Dali and John Hench were created for Destino, left unfinished in 1945. Dominique Monféry's Destino (2003) was a 7 minute reconstruction. It was published in Finland on the Fantasia 2000 blu-ray edition in 2010. Photo from: Clifford Thurlow: Dalí, Disney, Destino and Pink Floyd, 2 Nov 2023.

Fantasia 2000 (blu-ray)

Helsingin Sanomat

Dvd-klassikko

10.12.2010

Antti Alanen

FANTASIA 2000 / Fantasia 2000 (Fantasia 2000). 

USA © 1999 Disney Enterprises, Inc. TY: Walt Disney Feature Animation. T: Roy E. Disney, Donald W. Ernst. M johto: James Levine, es.: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. 

    Ludwig van Beethoven: 5. sinfonia c-molli, 1. Allegro con brio. O: Pixote Hunt. 

    Ottorino Respighi: Rooman pinjat. CGI. O: Hendel Butoy. 

    George Gershwin: Sininen rapsodia. O: Eric Goldberg. 

    Dmitri Shostakovitsh: 2. pianokonsertto F-duuri 1. Allegro – Vakaa tinasotamies. CGI. O: Hendel Butoy. 

    Camille Saint-Saëns: Eläinten karnevaali, finaali. O: Eric Goldberg. 

    Paul Dukas: Noidan oppipoika – alkuperäisestä Fantasiasta. O: James Algar (1940). 

    Edward Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance - marssit 1, 2, 3 ja 4 – Aku Ankka Nooan arkissa. O: Francis Glebas. 

    Igor Stravinsky: Tulilintu-sarja (1919 versio). O: Paul Brizzi, Gaëtan Brizzi. 

Bonus: 

    - Musicana (2010) 9 min. 

    - Dali & Destino (2010), 83 min. 

    - Destino (2003, O: Dominique Monfery - Salvador Dalín ja John Henchin 1945 luomista kuvista), 7 min. 

    - Kommenttiraita (Roy E. Disney, James Levine, Don Ernst, 2000). 

    - BD Live: Disneyn virtuaalinen holvi (interaktiivinen taidekokoelma, storyboard-kokoelma, ym.), 304 min. Väri, 1080p High Definition 1,78:1, DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio, pääkuva 74 min 

    Suom. tekstit / svenska text. 

    Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (Finland) 10.12.2010

Musiikin ja elävän kuvan yhteys oli kiehtonut kauan niin avantgarde-taiteilijoita kuin Walt Disneytäkin, ja Disneyn alkuperäisessä Fantasiassa (1940) tiet kohtasivat ainakin jossakin määrin. Kun jatko-osa Fantasia 2000 valmistui 60 vuoden jälkeen (!) välillä oli tapahtunut paljon, kuten musiikkivideon läpimurto vuonna 1977. Musiikin ja kuvan yhdistäminen oli muuttunut arkiseksi, televisiosta jatkuvasti nähtävillä olevaksi virraksi. Fantasia 2000 tarjosi laatua. Vakaa tinasotamies kuuluu kohokohtiin, ja myös Tulilinnussa on vahvoja kuvia. Kuten alkuperäisessäkin Fantasiassa, nerous ja kitsch vuorottelevat ja joskus myös yhdistyvät. Isoa, rohkeaa, uutta visiota Fantasia 2000:ssa ei kuitenkaan ole. Disney-yhtiö on antanut vuonna 2000 ensi kerran dvd:llä julkaistulle elokuvalle nyt juhlakäsittelyn teräväpiirtoformaatissa.  Kohokohta on lisäaineistoissa. Salvador Dalí valmisteli Walt Disneyn studiolla vuosina 1945-1946 lyhyttä musiikkielokuvaa Destino. Hanke hyllytettiin kaikessa ystävyydessä. Hienoa aineistoa valmistui kuitenkin roppakaupalla, ja sitä säilytettiin Disneyn holvissa, kunnes Roy E. Disney antoi toimeksiannon valmistaa siitä lopulta elokuva. Dominique Monferyn ohjauksessa teos viimein valmistui vuonna 2003. On merkillistä katsoa Disney-tuotantoa, johon ilmestyvät Dalín äärettömät horisontit, pitkät varjot, vilistelevät muurahaiset ja venähtäneet kellot. Kivet kuljeskelevien miesten päillä ovat tosin vahingossa muuttuneet patongeiksi. Dalín ja Disneyn merkillistä ystävyyttä ja yhteistyötä käsittelee pitkä liitedokumentti Dali & Destino, jota voi lämpimästi suositella.  Fantasian jatkohankkeista esitellään myös keskeneräinen Musicana, jota valmisteltiin 1970-luvun lopulla ja 1980-luvun alussa. Mel Shaw ja Wolfgang Reitherman olivat hankkeen vetureita. Etelävaltioiden jazzjakson esiintyjiksi haluttiin Louis Armstrongia ja Ella Fitzgeraldia. Perulaisen sopraanon Yma Sumacin ympärille suunniteltiin oma jakso. Afrikkalaiselle musiikille olisi omistettu The Rain God -episodi. Keisarin satakielessä aidon linnun omistava Mikki Hiiri olisi kohdannut Kiinan keisarin. Jean Sibeliuksen Finlandiaan olisi perustunut jakso. Jään jumalan ja auringon jumalattaren taistelun tuloksena olisivat syntyneet Pohjolan lukemattomat järvet. Liitedokumentissa nähdään joitakin Sibelius-jakson luonnoskuvia mutta ei kuulla Sibeliuksen musiikkia. Ali Baba -jakso olisi perustunut Nikolai Rimski-Korsakovin Sheheradzadeen.

Fantasia (blu-ray)

FANTASIA / Fantasia (Fantasia) 

USA © 1940 Walt Disney Productions. T: Walt Disney. M (es.): Leopold Stokowski ja the Philadelphia Orchestra. 

    J. S. Bach: D-molli toccata ja fuuga. O: Samuel Armstrong. 

    P. I. Tshaikovski: Pähkinänsärkijä. O: Samuel Armstrong. 

    Paul Dukas: Noidan oppipoika. O: James Algar. 

    Igor Stravinsky: Kevätuhri. O: Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield. 

    Ludwig van Beethoven: Pastoraalisinfonia. O: Hamilton Luske, Jim Handley, Ford Beebe. 

    Amilcare Ponchielli: Tuntien tanssi. O: T. Hee, Norman Ferguson. 

    Modest Musorgski: Yö autiolla vuorella ja Franz Schubert: Ave Maria. O: Wilfred Jackson. 

    Bonus: 

- Disneyn perhemuseo (Disney Family Museum, 2010), 5 min. 

- Schultheisin päiväkirja: Disneyn aarre (The Schultheis Notebook: A  Disney Treasure, 2010), 14 min. 

- Interaktiivinen kuvagalleria. 

- Kommenttiraita: Brian Sibley (2010). 

- Kommenttiraita, haastatteluja ja  Walt Disneyn kommentteja John Canemakerin kokoamina (2001). 

- Kommenttiraita: Roy E. Disney, James Levine, John Canemaker ja Scott MacQueen.

    Pääkuvassa ei ole juuri lainkaan puhetta. Suom. tekstit / svensk text. Väri, 1080p High Definition 1,33:1, DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio, pääkuva 124 min 

    Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (Finland) 10.12.2010

Fantasia on julkaistu dvd:llä aikaisemmin kerran, vuonna 2001 (Suomessa 2002). Yhdysvalloissa julkaistiin vuonna 2000 Fantasia Anthology (3-dvd), jonka Fantasia the Legacy -kiekolla oli 13 tuntia lisäaineistoa. Vuoden 2000 Legacy-lisäaineistosta osa sisältyy vuoden 2010 Fantasia 2000 -juhlajulkaisuun, jonka kautta se on ladattavissa netistä BD Live -tekniikalla.

Walt Disneyn kolmas pitkä animaatio oli rohkea kokeilu. Disney oli 20 vuoden ajan rakentanut populaaria animaatiomaailmaansa, ja nyt hän astui niin sanotun korkeakulttuurin piiriin ottamalla animaationsa innoittimiksi maailman kuuluisimpia sävelteoksia. Fantasian kuhunkin jaksoon suunniteltiin erilainen kuvaratkaisu. Alun Bach-jakso perustuu avantgardistiseen abstraktioon. Naturalismia lähenevät mauttomimmat jaksot (Kevätuhri, Pastoraalisinfonia). Parhaat jaksot sijoittuvat välimaastoon: Mikki Hiiri noidan oppipoikana; virtahepodaamien ja krokotiilikavaljeerien baletti Ponchielli-jaksossa; kauhutunnelmat Musorgski-visualisoinnissa.  Disney oli suunnitellut Fantasialle poikkeuksellista esityskäytäntöä, jossa teos olisi vuosien mittaan muuttunut vähitellen, ja sitä oltaisiin näytetty vain mahtavissa erikoisnäytöksissä. Sota sotki suunnitelmat, mutta Fantasian monia jatkohankkeita ei milloinkaan haudattu, vaan niitä toteutettiin irrallisissa episodeissa ja 60 vuotta myöhemmin valmistuneessa jatko-osassa Fantasia 2000. Suosionsa huipulle Fantasia nousi psykedeelisellä 1960-luvulla.  Kannattaa katsoa myös Fantasia 2000 -juhlajulkaisu, joka täydentää kokonaisuuden. Vaikka kummallakin levyllä on roppakaupalla lisäaineistoja, niistä puuttuu keskeistä vuoden 2000 Fantasia Anthologyn Legacy-aineistoa, esimerkiksi tyylikäs rekonstruktio Jean Sibeliuksen Tuonelan joutsenen animaatioluonnoksista. Koska Fantasia Anthologya ei Suomessa julkaistu, odottaa Sibeliuksen ja Disneyn kohtaaminen vielä Suomen ensijulkaisuaan.  Fantasia-blu-rayt vaativat kaiken aineistonsa esiinsaamiseksi blu-rayn kytkemistä verkkoon (BD Live) ja muutenkin uusinta tekniikkaa. Fantasia 2000:n katsomisesta selviydyin normaalisti kotisoittimella, mutta Fantasia-blu-rayn kotikatselu pysähtyi trailereiden jälkeen. Sunnuntaina 12.12.2010: käynti suurella elektroniikkaosastolla vahvisti, että levy toimii mahtavasti uusilla soittimilla ja suunnattomien taulutelevisioiden ruuduilla.

Juha J.

2010-12-12 12:26:29

Ihmetellä täytyy Disneyn kanttia julkaista näinkin haastava ja kokeellinenkin teos, joka kuitenkin oli tarkoitettu koko perheen viihde-elokuvaksi? Toinen ihmetyksen aihe liittyy Disney-yhtiön edelleen harrastamaan itsesensuuriin, jossa pastoraalijaksosta on kuvaa rajaamalla poistettu kaksi mustaihoista hahmoa. Poisto suoritettiin lähteestä riippuen joko 1967 tai 69, eikä tuota lyhyttä pätkää käsittääkseni ole sen koommin löytynyt edes mistään kotivideojulkaisusta tai ekstramateriaaleista, jossa vaikkapa poiston syitä olisi pohdittu? Blu-rayn kommenttiraitoja en vielä ole ehtinyt kuuntelemaan josko niistä löytyisi valaistusta asiaan?

Antti Alanen

2010-12-12 12:59:13

Hei Juha, syy itsesensuuriin oli kohtausten rasismi: mustat kentaurit esitetään valkoisten palvelijoina.

Juha J.

2010-12-12 14:21:45

2010-12-12 12:21:45

Moi Antti, valitettavasti en ilmaissut itseäni kovin selkeästi, joten pientä tarkennusta. Rasismia kyllä vaan, ja ihmettelyni liittyikin siihen tosiseikkaan, miten Disney-yhtiö vuodesta toiseen pyrkii salaamaan tuon tökerön rasismin. Mielestäni olisi parempi tuoda nuo poistetut sekunnit (joita blu-rayllä on n. 15) julkisuuteen vaikka ekstroissa, kommenttien ja/tai anteeksipyynnön kera.

L/H-fani

2011-04-28 21:24:39

2011-04-28 18:24:39

Oli muuten dvd:lläkin uskomattoman hyvä remasterointi. Tosin dubbaus oli aika tarpeeton.

Disney, Dalí ja Sibelius

12.12.2010

Espanjalainen surrealistinen taiteilija Salvador Dalí työskenteli Walt Disneyn studiolla vuosina 1945-1946. Valmisteilla ollut yhteinen animaatiohanke hyllytettiin viimein hyvässä yhteisymmärryksessä. Piirroksia ja maalauksia valmistui kuitenkin niin paljon, että niiden pohjalta toteutettiin lopulta muutama vuosi sitten lyhyt animaatio Destino, joka on juuri julkaistu suomeksi Fantasia 2000 -blu-ray-levyllä. On yllättävää kohdata Disneyn animaatiossa Dalín maalauksista tutut pakkomielteet kuten vilisevät muurahaiset, miehet jotka käyskentelevät kivi pään päällä, loputtomat horisontit ja varjot sekä ameebamaiset kellot. Dalí näki elokuvansa käsittelevän "ihmisiä ajan labyrintissä". Dalín ja hänen lahjakkaan Disney-partnerinsa John Henchin yli 150 alkuperäiskuvaa unohtuivat sukupolviksi Disneyn holveihin. Niiden pohjalta Dominique Monfery on ohjannut 7-minuuttisen animaation tyylitajuisesti. Nimikappaleena kuullaan edelleen alkuperäinen 1940-luvun Disney-levytys, jolla laulaa meksikolainen Dora Luz. 83-minuuttinen liitedokumentti Dalí & Destino kertoo Disneyn ja Dalín ystävyyden ja yhteistyön tarinan perinpohjaisesti.  Walt Disney oli 1900-luvun populaarikulttuurin jättiläinen. 1940-luvulla hän laajensi aktiivisesti yhteyksiään myös niin sanottuun korkeakulttuuriin, avantgardea unohtamatta. Fantasiassa työskenteli alkuvaiheessa Oskar Fischinger. Vaikka Salvador Dalí -yhteistyö ei johtanutkaan tulokseen, hanke ei ollut mieletön. Ajat olivat vain kovat, eikä kaikkea ei voitu toteuttaa. Fantasian alkuperäinen ajatus oli olla jatkuvasti muuttuva elokuva, johon tehtäisiin vuosien mittaan uusia jaksoja. Ajatus ei alkuperäisessä muodossaan toteutunut, mutta monia siihen liittyviä hankkeita pantiin vireille, kehiteltiin pitkälle ja toteutettiin melkein loppuun astikin. Niistä on Suomessa julkaistu vuoden 2002 Fantasia-dvd:llä Claude Debussyn Kuutamo / Clair de lune (jota ei blu-ray -julkaisuilla ole). Vuonna 2000 julkaistiin Yhdysvalloissa mahtava kolmen dvd:n Fantasia Anthology -boksi, jonka Fantasia the Legacy -kiekolla oli 13 tuntia lisäaineistoa.  Vain vuoden 2000 amerikkalaisella Fantasia the Legacy -kiekolla on julkaistu Disney-tulkinta Jean Sibeliuksen Tuonelan joutsenesta tyylikkäänä yhdeksänminuuttisena rekonstruktiona, jossa kamera liikkuu alkuperäisten maalausten sisällä. Näyt eivät ole suomalaisia, mutta onhan kuoleman virran aihekin universaalinen. Jotkin Fantasia-projekteihin liittyneet tulkinnat ovat saaneet musiikin ystävät vääntelehtimään vaivautuneina (nykyään enemmän huvittuneina). Tuonelan joutsenessa ei ole mitään nolostuttavaa. Ehkä ankaruutensa takia sitä ei viety loppuun tai ehkä siksi, että se oli aihepiiriltään liikaa elokuvaan, johon sisältyy myös Modest Musorgskin Yö autiolla vuorella, jakso, joka aiheuttaa nykylapsillekin painajaisia. Fantasia 2000 -levy esittelee kuitenkin toisen Disney-studion vireillä olleen Sibelius-hankkeen, Finlandian, jota viritettiin 1970-luvun lopulla ja 1980-luvun alussa suunniteltuun Musicana-nimiseen Fantasian kaltaiseen kokoillan musiikkianimaatioon. Sen ajatuksena oli ollut esitellä koko maailman musiikkia. Mel Shaw ja Wolfgang Reitherman loivat maalauksia Finlandia-tarinaan, jossa jään jumala ja auringon jumalatar kohtaavat, tuloksena Suomen tuhannet järvet. Musicana-liitedokumentissa nähdään muutamia Finlandia-maalausluonnoksia, mutta musiikki ei ole Sibeliusta.

Eija-Liisa Ahtila: Marian ilmestys / The Annunciation (an installation of three projected images)

Eija-Liisa Ahtila: Marian ilmestys / The Annunciation (an installation of three projected images) (FI 2010). Satu Mäkinen as Virgin Mary.

FI © 2010 Crystal Eye – Kristallisilmä Oy. P: Ilppo Pohjola.
    D+SC: Eija-Liisa Ahtila. DP: Arto Kaivanto – 35 mm and HD – digital intermediate 2K – projection format HD. AD: Sattva-Hanna Toiviainen. Cost: Maria Savio. Make-up: Leila Mäkynen. S: Peter Nordström – DD 5.1. ED: Heikki Kotsalo. Loc: Aulanko.
    C: Satu Mäkinen (Virgin Mary), Elise Laaksonen (Archangel Gabriel), Taru Ollila (Saint), Elina Hurme and Anastasia Ilvonen (servants), Riina Myyryläinen (Patron), Seppo Salminen (Santa Claus), Kati Outinen (director).
    32 min 10 sec.
    3-channel projected high definition installation at Galleria Heino 11 Dec 2010 – 9 Jan 2011, viewed at the vernissage, in the presence of Eija-Liisa Ahtila, 10 Dec 2010

Eija-Liisa Ahtila's The Annunciation is simultaneously on display at Galerie Marian Goodman (79 Rue du Temple, 75003 Paris), December 4, 2010 – January 8, 2011.

The Annunciation is a topical subject for December although the even more perfect timing would be nine months before Christmas. Reflections on Christian imagery are the background to this reconfiguration. This work demands repeated viewings, and now I only saw it once. I appreciated the splendid visions of the winter landscape. The installation is the story of a modern reconstruction of the Annunciation as told in the Gospel of Luke and in the tradition of Western painting.

P.S. 14 Jan 2012. Olaf Möller has written in Filmihullu 5/2011 (he saw this movie in the Venice Film Festival in 2011) that The Annunciation is about how man makes God in his own image.

The official presentation is beyond the jump break.

The Big Red One: The Reconstruction (2004)

Samuel Fuller: The Big Red One (US 1980).

Voittamaton ykkönen / Den obesegrade ettan. 

     The original release version: US © 1980 Lorimar Productions, Inc. P: Gene Corman. 

     D+SC: Samuel Fuller. AD: Adam Greenberg. AD: Peter Jamieson. FX: Jeff Clifford, Peter Dawson, Kit West. Make-up, hair: Blanche Shuler. M: Dana Kaproff. S: Jack A. Finlay. ED: Morton Tubor. 

     LOC: Israel. 

     CAST: Lee Marvin (Sergeant), Mark Hamill (Griff), Robert Carradine (Zab), Bobby DiCicco (Vinci), Kelly Ward (Johnson), Stéphane Audran (Walloon), Siegfried Rauch (Schroeder), Serge Marquand (Ransonnet), Charles Macaulay (General / Captain), Alain Dourey (Broban), Maurice Marsac (Vichy colonel), Colin Gilbert (prisoner), Joseph Clark (Shep), Ken Campbell (Lemcheck), Doug Werner (Switolski), Perry Lang (Kaiser), Howard Delman (Smitty), Marthe Villalonga (Madame Marbaise), Giovanna Galetti (woman in a Sicilian village), Gregori Buimistre (a German), Shimon Barr (a German nurse), Matteo Zoffoli (Sicilian boy), Avraham Ronai (German Marshal), Galit Rotman (pregnant woman). 

     (The original release version was 113 min)

The Big Red One: The Reconstruction. 2004. PC: Lorac Productions. EX: Brian Jamieson. P: Douglas Freeman, Richard Schickel. Digital intermediate: Efilm. Digital paint: Arn Campero, John Falchi, Gary Forbes. S: Mark Linden, Tara Paul, Harry E. Snodgrass. ED: Bryan McKenzie. Released by: Warner Bros. 162 min

A 35 mm Cinematek print with French / Flemish subtitles viewed at Cinema Orion (Samuel Fuller), Helsinki, 9 Dec 2010.

Revisited Richard Schickel's superb reconstruction of The Big Red One with 50 additional minutes.

The Big Red One was the most important film in Samuel Fuller's life. Officially he was working with it since 1957, originally for Warner Bros., but the project was cancelled because Fuller did not accept John Wayne in the leading role. Merrill's Marauders was Fuller's "dry run" for another attempt to produce The Big Red One for Warner Bros., but although it was a success in every way, nobody wanted to finance The Big Red One in the 1960s.

Fuller finally got to direct the magnificent story, and the film was released in 1980. It is a small-scale semi-autobiographical interpretation of the way of the U.S. First Infantry Division in WWII in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy Landing, occupied France, the Kasserine Pass, the Hürtgen Forest, the Battle of the Bulge, Germany, and finally, the Falkenau concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Watching The Big Red One I project mentally the feeling of the scope and magnitude of Merrill's Marauders to this "little big film".

All Samuel Fuller aficionados are grateful for this reconstruction. Yet Fuller's other war films are much better, and the best account of the subject is in Samuel Fuller's autobiography A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting, and Filmmaking. Fuller went to war with the attitude of a crime reporter to cover the biggest crime of our time. His whole oeuvre can be seen as a coming to terms with the experience of the Second World War.

The audience was grateful for the rare chance to see The Big Red One: The Reconstruction in a film print screening. Although 35 mm, the print has an obvious digital intermediate look.

La belle équipe

Jean Pariisista / Jean från Paris. FR 1936. PC: Ciné-Arys Production. P: Arys Nissotti. D: Julien Duvivier. SC: Charles Spaak, Duvivier. DP: Jules Krüger, Marc Fossard. AD: Jacques Krauss. M: Maurice Yvain. Valse musette »Quand on s’promène au bord de l’eau» (music by Yvain, lyrics by Julien Duvivier, Yvain, Louis Poterat) perf. Jean Gabin (vocals), Albert Deprince (accordeon). ED: Marthe Poncin. Studio: Joinville. Loc: Chennevières-sur-Marne. Cast: Jean Gabin (Jean), Charles Vanel (Charles), Raymond Aimos (Raymond, "Tintin"), Viviane Romance (Gina), Micheline Cheirel (Huguette), Raphaël Medina (Mario), Charles Dorat (Jacques), Charpin (policeman). 101 min. A SFI print of the happy end version with Swedish subtitles, screened with e-subtitles in Finnish by Lena Talvio. Viewed at Cinema Orion (History of the Cinema), Helsinki, 9 Dec 2010

The weeks before Christmas are extremely dark in Finland, but now Helsinki is snowbound in a way that it has not been in decades at this time of the year. To fight the darkness, there is a busy season of receptions and celebrations called pikkujoulut (Little Christmases). Having celebrated the Japanese Emperor's birthday and the Lasipalatsi reception at Bio Rex and having moved at a snail's pace in the traffic slowed down by the snow I finally make it to the Orion.

Revisited the second half of Julien Duvivier's seminal work from the front populaire era. "The fine gang" ("la belle équipe") consists of five unemployed friends who win the top prize in the lottery and establish a guinguette called Chez nous by the river Marne. There is a moment of happiness, culminating in the marvellous Jean Gabin song sequence, one of the most beautiful anthology pieces in the history of the (French) cinema with immortal long takes shot with the moving cameras of Jules Krüger and Marc Fossard. Meanwhile, one of the friends is dancing on the roof... and a series of misfortunes starts to pile up. The most damaging of all is the jealousy over Gina. Solidarity soon goes out of the window. This film is all about the spirit of the nation, and one can sense Duvivier's profound mistrust in solidarity. One of the essential Jean Gabin films. Duvivier was the one who discovered his star persona in La Bandera and Pépé le Moko. In each Duvivier film Gabin is different, and in La belle équipe his performance is immortal. One can appreciate the visual beauty of Jules Krüger's plein air cinematography in this SFI print.

"Quand on s'promène au bord de l'eau" lyrics by Julien Duvivier beyond the jump break:

The Naked Kiss

Alaston suudelma. US 1964. PC: F & F Productions. A Leon Fromkess - Sam Firks Production. P+D+SC: Samuel Fuller. DP: Stanley Cortez. M: Paul Dunlap. ED: Jerome Thoms. S: Bert Hallberg. AD: Eugene Lourie. Cost: Einar H. Bourman, Hazel Allensworth. Make-up: Harry Thomas. Cast: Constance Towers (Kelly), Anthony Eisley (Griff), Michael Dante (Grant), Virginia Grey (Candy), Patsy Kelly (Mac), Betty Bronson (Miss Josephine), Marie Devereux (Buff), Karen Conrad (Dusty). 93 min. A DFI print with Danish subtitles viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 8 Dec 2010. - Revisited the first half-an-hour of Samuel Fuller's low budget masterpiece with a strong performance by Constance Towers, great cinematography by Stanley Cortez, and engaging music by Paul Dunlap. An interesting parallel film to Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie of the same year, both stories of wandering women outside the law. But in Fuller's story the independent Kelly is not helped by any men, on the contrary, she has to fight the injustice of men. The Naked Kiss is more topical now than then because of the more widespread recognition of pedophilia. - As a director, Fuller was still at his best in The Naked Kiss, but the production circumstances became too unfavourable, and his continuously exciting oeuvre was interrupted. - Fine definition of light in the used print.

Total Balalaika Show

FI 1993. PC: Sputnik Oy.
    P+D: Aki Kaurismäki. DP: Heikki Ortamo – with Pekka Aine, Tahvo Hirvonen, Timo Salminen, Olli Varja - with assistents Heikki Färm, Esa Illi, Seppo Louhi, Rauno Ronkainen – shot on super 16 – film print on 35 mm. Music recording: Heikki Savolainen. Music mixing: Mauri Sumén, Heikki Savolainen, Pemo Ojala. ED: Timo Linnasalo.
    Leningrad Cowboys: Twist-Twist Erkinharju (drums), Ben Granfelt (guitar), Sakke Järvenpää (vocals, guitar, drums), Jore Marjaranta (vocals), Ekke Niiva (harmonica, saxophone), Lyle Närvänen (guitar), Pemo Ojala (trumpet, alto horn), Silu Seppälä (bass), Mauri Sumén (accordeon, keyboards), Mato Valtonen (vocals, guitar, hand drum).
    The Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble with 100 singers, 40 orchestra musicians, and 20 ballet dancers.
    Presenter: Kirsi Tykkyläinen. 57 min. Viewed at 35 mm at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 8 Dec 2010

Total Balalaika Show is a documentary about a remarkable concert on 12 June 1993 at the Helsinki Senate Square, Finland's most prominent square, surrounded by the Helsinki Cathedral, the Cabinet of Finland and the Helsinki University.

There were 50.000 - 70.000 spectators on the square, more than it can fit. I was nearby that night but seeing the crowds did not even think about trying to squeeze in. After this screening I had coffee with a friend who was there that night and told that it was hard to make sense of the music in the actual concert.

This joint concert of Leningrad Cowboys and the Red Army Ensemble was one of the most important performances worldwide to celebrate the fall of the Iron Curtain. No matter that the music of neither of the two ensembles is their best. This is not something one would like to listen to out of this context. This performance is concept art, and the film is a solid documentary on it. We see 14 of the 24 numbers in their entirety. Aki Kaurismäki shows good judgment in keeping this a straight record without special emphases.

This film is a document of happiness about the end of the Cold War.

Total Balalaika Show has been transmitted several times on tv and it has been popular on vhs and dvd. Very few have seen it on 35 mm, but only on a big screen one can have the experience of space and the scope of the crazy spectacle.

Song list beyond the jump break:

Aki Kaurismäki: music shorts

Aki Kaurismäki: Sleepy Sleepers: Rock'y VI (FI 1986). Sakari Kuosmanen as Igor. Silu Seppälä as Rock'y.

Courtesy Sputnik and Pirkanmaan Elokuvakeskus, 35 mm prints in black and white (except L.A. Woman, Betacam, colour). Viewed at Suomen elokuva-arkisto, Orion, Helsinki, 8 Dec 2010.

Sleepy Sleepers: Rock'y VI (FI 1986) 9' – Cold War boxing match parody

Sleepy Sleepers: Thru The Wire (FI 1987) 6' – prison escape
Sleepy Sleepers: L.A. Woman (FI 1987) 5' Betacam [there never was a 35 mm print although it was shot on 35 mm] – live performance
Melrose: Rich Little Bitch (FI 1987) 6' – live performance – from Hamlet Goes Business
Leningrad Cowboys: Those Were The Days (FI 1992) 6' – the bar in Paris
Leningrad Cowboys: These Boots (FI 1992) 5' – the Leningrad Cowboys history of Finland

A top set of music shorts which Aki Kaurismäki refuses to call music videos. Aki was instrumental in the transition of Sleepy Sleepers (1975) into Leningrad Cowboys (1989). Laconic visuals, deadpan comic effects. The best music is in the early shorts. Aki's four conceptual Sleepy Sleepers / Leningrad Cowboys music shorts are among the best of the golden age of the music video. Many prominent film directors have made music videos, but the results have almost always been forgettable. Aki is an exception.

Wagon Master (1950)

John Ford: Wagon Master (US 1950).

Wagonmaster - aavikon sankari / Wagonmaster - öknens hjälte. 

    US © 1950 Argosy Pictures Corp. Presented by John Ford, Merian C. Cooper. Assoc. P: Lowell Farrell.

    D: John Ford. Assist. D: Wingate Smith. SC: Frank Nugent, Patrick Ford. DP: Bert Glennon. 2d unit Photography: Archie Stout. AD: James Basevi. ED: Jack Murray; Set Dec: Joe Kish. Properties: Jack Golconda. Men's Wardrobe: Wes Jeffries. Women's Wardrobe: Adele Parmenter. M: Richard Hageman. Songs: "Shadows in the Dust," "Song of the Wagon Master," "Wagons West" and "Chuckawalla Swing," words and music by Stan Jones. S: Frank Webster, Clem Portman. FX: Jack Caffee. Makeup: Don Cash. Hair: Anna Malin. LOC: Monument Valley. 

    C: Ben Johnson (Travis Blue), Joanne Dru (Denver), Harry Carey Jr. (Sandy Owens), Ward Bond (Jonathan Wiggs), Charles Kemper (Uncle Shiloh Clegg), Alan Mowbray (Dr. A. Locksley Hall), Jane Darwell (Sister Ledyard), Ruth Clifford (Floretty "Florey" Phyffe), Russell Simpson (Adam Perkins), Kathleen O'Malley (Prudence Perkins), James Arness (Floyd Clegg), Fred Libby (Reese Clegg), Mickey Simpson (Jesse Clegg), Hank Worden (Luke Clegg), Francis Ford (Mr. Peachtree), Jim Thorpe (Indian chief), Cliff Lyons (Marshal).

    86 min

    A print of the 1964 Aito Mäkinen re-release with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Aito Mäkinen / Jerker A. Eriksson edited by Pentti Pajukallio. 

    Viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 7 Dec 2010.

Revisited John Ford's epic poem, a film that may seem at first sight a routine number. But the more one sees it the better it gets. A favourite of John Ford, and it grows in esteem among John Ford aficionados. A relaxed film without pretension. The only monumentalism is the location, Monument Valley. The Mormons (their leader played by Ward Bond) are chased out of town. They start their journey through the desert, the rivers, and over the mountains to the promised land. They get horse traders (Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr.) as their wagon masters. They meet a medicine show wagon. A family of outlaws, the Cleggs, hijacks the wagon train to hide in the wagons from the sheriff's posse. The wagon train also meets a peaceful Navajo tribe. - Joseph McBride remarks on the topical relevance of the film's stance against prejudice, bigotry, racism, and intolerance. - The cinematography by Bert Glennon is magnificent, and the visual quality of the print is fine.

White Dog

Valkoinen koira / Vit hund. US © 1981 Paramount Pictures Corporation. EX: Edgar J. Scherick, Nick Vanogg. P: Jon Davison. D: Samuel Fuller. SC: Samuel Fuller, Curtis Hanson - based on the short story "Chien blanc" (1970) by Romain Gary. DP: Bruce Surtees. FX: John Frazier. PD: Brian Eatwell. COST: Ellis Cohen (men), Gail Viola (women). Make-up: Adelbert Acevedo. M: Ennio Morricone. ED: Bernard Gribble. LOC: Los Angeles, Wildlife Way Station (San Fernando Valley). CAST: Kristy McNichol (Julie Sawyer), Paul Winfield (Keys), Burl Ives (Carruthers), Jameson Parker (Roland Gray), Christa Lang (sairaanhoitaja), Samuel Fuller, Paul Bartel, Martine Dawson, Neyle Morrow, Dick Miller, Samantha Fuller. 90 min. A vintage print with Swedish subtitles by Stig Björkman viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 7 Dec 2010.

Revisited a strong anti-racist drama which was a high point in Samuel Fuller's late career. It had only a limited release because of its controversial subject matter but its greatness has been belatedly recognized.

The title animal is a white German shephard dog which has been trained as a puppy as an attack dog - to attack black people.

White Dog is one of the all time best dog films, along with Rin-Tin-Tin, Lassie, White Bim Black Ear, and the Finnish Myrsky (Storm) by Kaisa Rastimo (about an attack dog puppy rescued from the Berlin Wall).

The performances are fine. White Dog may be Kristy McNichol's best film. Paul Winfield and Burl Ives are powerful as seasoned animal trainers who have a hard time convincing the young actress that it may be impossible to un-train a killer dog. The dog's performance is convincing, and the film is especially interesting for owners of gundogs.

White Dog is essential Samuel Fuller because of its controversial and uncompromising anti-racist subject matter. There are the intensive close-ups, including extreme close-ups of eyes, and other Fullerian hallmarks, but the film is more linear, more mainstream, more like conventional tv drama than his other masterpieces.

Mutter Krausens Fahrt ins Glück / Mother Krause's Journey to Happiness

Phil Jutzi: Mutter Krausens Fahrt ins Glück / Mother Krause's Journey to Happiness (DE 1929).

[the film was not released in Finland] [Äiti Krausen matka onneen] / Mamma Krause far till lyckans land. DE 1929. PC: Prometheus Film-Verleih und Vertrieb GmbH (Berlin). P: Willi Münzenberg. Protektorat: Käthe Kollwitz; Hans Baluschek; Otto Nagel. D+DP: Phil Jutzi. SC: Willy Döll; Jan Fethke - contribution: Otto Nagel - based on stories by Heinrich Zille - and an account of these stories by Otto Nagel. AD: Robert Scharfenberg; Carl Haacker. M for a live cinema orchestra: Paul Dessau. LOC: Wedding (Berlin). CAST: Alexandra Schmitt (Mutter Krause), Holmes Zimmermann (her son Paul Krause), Ilse Trautschold (her daughter Erna Krause), Gerhard Bienert (Schlafbursche), Vera Sacharowa (Friede, a streetwalker), Friedrich Gnaß (construction worker Max), Fee Wachsmuth (a child).  Original length 3297 m. Current German length 2846 m /24 fps/ 104 min. - A print from Svenska Filminstitutet / Filmarkivet, 2864 m /24 fps/ 106 min with e-subtitles in Finnish by Lena Talvio viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki (History of the Cinema), 7 Dec 2010.

Revisited Phil Jutzi's masterpiece of naturalism, Neue Sachlichkeit, and social realism. It was also included in Pordenone's Canon Revisited this year, but we had made our selection to our ongoing History of the Cinema series independently. The film is much stronger than I remembered: rich in observation, expressive and inventive in its cinematography, and with growing value as a document of its time. The film is a combination of a political story, a love story and a crime story with a Kammerspiel tragedy. As a student in Berlin I was still able to visit those old backyards (Hinterhöfe) in Wedding, and I also visited a cinema called Alhambra, but I don't know whether it was the same one as the one where Mutter Krause had its premiere. Mother Krause is a decent German woman whose heart is broken by what happens to her children. Alexandra Schmitt' performance is unforgettable. "Einen Menschen kann man mit einer Wohnung genau so wohl töten wie mit einem Axt" ("You can kill a man as easily with an apartment as with an axe") said Heinrich Zille. "Schuld hat doch nicht das Mädchen sondern das Milljöh" ("Don't blame the girl but the milieu") is the advice of a politically active friend to Max who has learned about Erna. The visual quality is largely fine; there are variations but not annoyingly often.

My blog remarks of the 2011 Sodankylä film concert Mutter Krausens Fahrt in Glück.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Oliver Stone: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (US 2010). Shia LaBeouf (Jake Moore) and Michael Douglas (Gordon Gekko).

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps / Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. 

    US © 2010 Twentieth Century Fox / Dune. PC: Edward R. Pressman Film. P: Eric Kopeloff, Edward R. Pressman, Oliver Stone. 

    D: Oliver Stone. SC: Allan Loeb, Stephen Schiff – based on the characters by Stanley Weiser and Oliver Stone (1987). DP: Rodrigo Prieto – digital intermediate: Efilm. PD: Kristi Zea. COST: Ellen Mirojnick. Makeup: Jane Choi, Ande Yung – (for Mr. Douglas): Leslie Fuller. M: Craig Armstrong. S: Wylie Stateman. ED: David Brenner, Julie Monroe. 

    CAST: Michael Douglas (Gordon Gekko), Shia LaBeouf (Jake Moore), Josh Brolin (Bretton James), Carey Mulligan (Winnie Gekko), Eli Wallach (Jules Steinhardt), Susan Sarandon (Jake's mother), Frank Langella (Louis Zabel) – Sylvia Miles (realtor), Oliver Stone (investor), Warren Buffett (himself), Charlie Sheen (Bud Fox). 

    136 min

    U.S. release 20 Sep, Finnish release 1 Oct, 2010.

    Released in Finland by FS Film with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Minna Franssila / Sophia Beckman-De-La-Riva. A 35 mm projection at Tennispalatsi 5, Helsinki, 4 Dec 2010.

Oliver Stone has in this film the best possible material for a topical drama, tragedy, and / or satire, and the film starts well. Gordon Gekko became a symbol of the 1980s capitalism, and now we follow with him the progress to the 2008 financial earthquake the full implications of which still remain unknown. Michael Douglas in great shape as Gekko.

The progress to the conclusion is a disappointment, a case of easy-watching wish-fulfillment entertainment. But the film is worth seeing because of the first half's dramatization of contemporary financial speculation.

Les Amours imaginaires

Kangastuksia / Inbillad kärlek / Heartbeats. CA © 2010 Mifilifilms, Inc. P: Xavier Dolan, Carole Mondello, Daniel Morin. D+SC: Xavier Dolan. DP: Stéphanie Anne Weber Biron - digital intermediate - 1,85:1. Cost: Sophie Beasse. Makeup: Melissa Purino. "Bang Bang" (Sonny Bono) perf. Dalida. J.S. Bach cello suites. S: Sylvain Brassard. ED: Serge Harvey. Cast: Monia Chokri (Marie), Niels Schneider (Nicolas), Xavier Dolan (Francis). 103 min. Released in Finland by Bio Rex Distribution with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Topi Oksanen / Joanna Erkkilä. A 35 mm screening at Kinopalatsi 6, Helsinki, 4 Dec 2010.

The second feature film of the 21-year-old Xavier Dolan is a triangle story of Marie and Francis who live together as friends and fall in love for Nicolas. However, the feeling is one-sided for both Marie and Francis.

Les Amours imaginaires is full of references. Two main characters see Audrey Hepburn and James Dean as reference points. There is a retro concept in Marie's style. The film has been compared with the French nouvelle vague and with Wong Kar-wai. For me, the film is slightly threatened to be drowned in its references, including the powerful Dalida performance of "Bang Bang".

I don't pretend having understood the characters. There is a mystery what they do, are they working, do they study, or even, are they prostitutes. There is a narcissist aura in the monologues. The nervous hand-held camera movements I have seen before.

Risto Räppääjä ja polkupyörävaras / Ricky Rapper and the Bicycle Thief

Mari Rantasila: Risto Räppääjä ja polkupyörävaras / Ricky Rapper and the Bicycle Thief (FI 2010). Severi Heikkilä as Risto Räppääjä.

Risto Rappare och cykeltjuven. FI 2010. PC: Kinotar Oy. P: Lasse Saarinen, Rimbo Salomaa. D: Mari Rantasila. SC: Sinikka Nopola, Tiina Nopola - based on the characters in their series of books. DP: Timo Heinänen. PD: Minna Santakari. Cost: Niina Pasanen. Makeup: Leila Mäkynen. Choreography: Lotta Kuusisto. S: Risto Iissalo. ED: Tuuli Kuittinen. CAST: Severi Heikkilä (Risto Räppääjä), Lauramaija Luoto (Nelli Nuudelipää), Annu Valonen (Rauha Räppääjä), Ulla Tapaninen (Elvi Räppääjä), Martti Suosalo (Lennart Lindberg), Marcus Groth (Bertil Rosenbögel), Joel Bonsdorff (Robert Rosenbögel), Christina Indrenius-Zalewski (Gunvor Rosenbögel), Anna-Maija Tuokko (personal nurse Pipsa), Martti Syrjä (hospital doctor Mara), Pantse Syrjä (hospital doctor Pera). 79 min. Released by Nordisk with Swedish subtitles. Viewed at Tennispalatsi 6, Helsinki, 4 Dec 2010.

Sinikka Nopola and Tiina Nopola have created Ricky Rapper, a popular figure of children's fiction in 14 books since 1997, three plays, an animated tv series and two theatrical musical comedy films directed by Mari Rantasila. Risto Räppääjä ja polkupyörävaras, which premiered in February, is the most popular film of the year in Finland and still running.

Again I'm a perfect stranger in a screening. I like the performances of the child protagonists Severi Heikkilä and Lauramaija Luoto, and Ulla Tapaninen is again great as Pakastaja-Elvi ("Mrs. Freeze").

The approach is that of a musical fantasy farce. The acting style of the other characters is early Keystone. The colour palette is anti-realistic in the extreme.

Hævnen (2010) / In a Better World

Susanne Bier: Hævnen (2010) / In a Better World (DK/SE 2010) with Mikael Persbrandt (Anton) and Trine Dyrholm (Marianne).

Kosto / Hämnden. DK/SE © 2010 Zentropa Entertainment 16 Aps. P: Sisse Graum Jørgensen. D: Susanne Bier. SC: Susanne Bier, Anders Thomas Jensen. DP: Morten Søborg. PD: Peter Grant. COST: Manon Rasmussen. Makeup: Charlotte Laustsen. S: Anne Jensen, Eddie Simonsen. ED: Pernille Bech Christensen, Morten Egholm. CAST: Mikael Persbrandt (Anton), Trine Dyrholm (Marianne), Ulrich Thomsen (Claus), William Jøhnk Nielsen (Christian), Markus Rygaard (Elias). 114 min. Original in English, Danish, and Swedish. A Bio Rex Distribution release with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Anitra Paukkula / Sophie Beckman-De-La-Riva. A 35 mm screening at Kinopalatsi 8, Helsinki, 3 Dec 2010.

Three strong stories united by the theme of revenge, its futility and destructiveness. Anton is a doctor in Kenya, where he faces the atrocities against pregnant women by a local crime lord called Big Man. His son Elias is a victim of brutal school bullying. Anton is also being stupidly insulted by a local car mechanic. Christian invents an outrageous revenge plan with potentially catastrophic results.

Susanne Bier is at her best in this gripping story which presents fundamental ethical questions in an original way. Among my favourite scenes is the one at school where the teachers evade responsibility and insinuate that the parents are to blame for their son being bullied at school. I know these things happen with potentially life-long damage to the victims.

A digital intermediate look, but not of the worst kind.

Pentti Hauhiala Collection: Walt Disney Collecting as a Passion (exhibition)

The National Library of Finland, The Rotunda, 21 Oct - 31 Dec 2010. Curated by Heikki Kaukoranta. Viewed on 3 Dec 2010.

Official introduction: "Selections from Pentti Hauhiala’s Walt Disney collection, considered one of Europe’s largest Disney collections, that has been donated to the National Library of Finland. The materials include Disney-themed literature, magazines, other printed products, audiovisual materials, as well as objects."

Pentti Hauhiala has been dedicated since childhood to Walt Disney, and the exhibition in this prominent address is a tribute to his magnificent collection and the many aspects of the world of Walt Disney. Most importantly, Pentti Hauhiala is himself a wonderful man with an insight in the spirit of Walt Disney.

La Pyramide humaine

Ihmispyramidi. FR 1958. PC: Les Films de la Pléïade. D: Jean Rouch. SC: Jean Rouch. DP: Louis Miaille - colour. S: Michel Fano. ED: Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte, Geneviève Bastide. Cast: Nadine Ballot, Denise, Elola, Jean-Claude, Nathalie, Dominique, Landry, Baka, Raymond, Alan Tusques. 93 min. A vintage print with e-subtitles in Finnish by Lena Talvio, viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 2 Dec 2010.

Revisited a half an hour of Jean Rouch's ethnofiction, a human experiment among high school students, black and white, in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. Much stronger than I remembered. The level of intensity is amazing. The film is very direct and harsh on racism, almost inflammatory, dealing openly with prejudice. But in the next scenes we see the black and the white students playing and dancing together. In La Pyramide humaine there is no "cinéma-vérité" but a never-ending movement towards the reality of life, the play and the record. - The vintage colour print has still the sense of the original colour, although it may be slightly faded (and may be a blow-up from 16 mm?).

Merrill's Marauders

Hyökkäys Burmassa / Attack i Burma. US © 1962 United States Productions. P: Milton Sperling. D: Samuel Fuller. SC: Milton Sperling, Samuel Fuller – based on the novel The Marauders (1959) by Charlton Ogburn, Jr. Ass D: William Kissel. DP: William Clothier; second unit: Higino J. Fallorina. FX: Ralph Ayres. Make-up: Gordon Bau. M: Howard Jackson. S: Francis M. Stahl. ED: Folmar Blangsted. Technical advisor: lieutenant colonel Samuel Wilson. Loc: The Philippines. Cast: Jeff Chandler (brigadier general Frank Merrill), Ty Hardin (lieutenant Lee Stockton), Peter Brown (Bullseye), Andrew Duggan (major George "Doc" Nemeny), Will Hutchins (Chowhound), Claude Akins (sergeant Kolowicz), Luz Valdez (Burmese girl), John Hoyt (general Joseph W. Stilwell), Charles Briggs (Muley), Chuck Roberson, Chuck Hayward (officers), Jack Williams (medic), Chuck Hicks (corporal Doskis), Vaughan Wilson (lieutenant colonel Bannister), Pancho Magalona (Taggy). 98 min. A vintage Technicolor print from Classic Films viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 1 Dec 2010.

Revisited: Merrill's Marauders which has the most authentic look of grandeur and devastation of all Samuel Fuller's war films, shot in the Philippines with access to 12.000 real soldiers with jungle experience and the cooperation of the U.S. and Philippine defense forces.

Based on the true story in which the strategic mission is to prevent Japanese troops from getting in touch with the German ones in the Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theater of World War II. The mission is entrusted to a long range penetration special forces unit which is first led to believe that they have only one strategic target to conquer, but instead there are five, such as Walawbum, Shaduzup, and Myitkyina. The jungles, the swamps and the mountains are overwhelming. Besides enemy snipers they face malaria, hunger, exhaustion, and mental breakdown. The jungle becomes a field of massive slaughter. Centrally, the story is about a tragedy of leadership. General Merrill knows he is wasting most of his 3000 men in the overwhelming campaign. He himself is among the casualties.

Fuller's film is a tribute to the endurance of the soldiers. It is not really an ensemble piece like Fuller's other war films. It is rather the story of a collective where we hardly get to know the fighters as individuals.The film is not based on an identification strategy. Rather it is a work of epic theatre.

The physical realism of the film is impressive, and it was a privilege to see this rare vintage Technicolor print with a feeling of authentic colour.

In the Core of the Documentary 55: Those Magnificent Wordsmiths

Yrjö Haapanen: Filmiviikko (FI 1949). A newsreel covering Filmiviikko [The Film Week], the first film festival in Finland. It was a nationwide event. The photograph has been taken in front of the cinema Kuvakukko in Kuopio. The film star Regina Linnanheimo greets the cinema director. She is escorted by T. J. Särkkä, the CEO of Suomen Filmiteollisuus (SF), Finland's biggest film company. My screenshot from: / view movie at: Elonet: Filmiviikko.

Dokumentin ytimessä 55: Nuo mainiot sanasepot ja viihdyttävät kielikellot / I dokumentärens kärna 55: Dessa fantastiska ordskapare. A digibeta compilation of Finnish non-fiction by Ilkka Kippola and Jari Sedergren, introduced by Ilkka Kippola, viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 1 Dec 2010

Legendary Finnish commentators on display: Kaarlo Marjanen, Hilkka Helinä, Mai-Brit Heljo, Paavo Nurmi, Heikki Silvennoinen, Olavi Puusaari, Carl-Erik Creutz. Their famous voices were also juicy targets for parody, and after the show on our way to the Corona Bar a distinguished regular presented his versions of Nurmi and Silvennoinen.

Hämeenkyrön heinänteko [Haymaking in Hämeenkyrö]. 1936. Kansatieteellinen Filmi. Kaarlo Marjanen. 9 min. - Flahertyan inspiration.
Elämä ihmiselle [Life Belongs to the People]. 1939. For: SDP. Kaarlo Marjanen. 5 min. - A political propaganda film as an urban montage essay.
Vanha Viipurimme [Our Old Vyborg]. 1939. Suomi-Filmi. Hilkka Helinä. 7 min. - Karelianism with a political emphasis.
Tutkijan työtä [A Scientist at Work]. 1961. Suomi-Filmi. Hilkka Helinä. 8 min. - Microscopic cinematography.
Ajan Kuvastin 42 [The Mirror of Time 42]. 1958. Kansan Elokuva. Mai-Brit Heljo and Esko Hytönen. 8 min. - Pirkko Mannola becomes Miss Finland.
Keskitystä keittiössä [Concentration in the Kitchen]. 1951. SOK. Irma Tyllinen and Paavo Nurmi [not the runner]. 11 min. - Towards an electric kitchen.
Muotia Napapiirillä [Fashion in the Polar Circle]. 1955. Filmileijona. Paavo Nurmi. 9 min. - Armi Kuusela.
Armin päivät [Armi's Birthday]. 1953. Huhtamäki Yhtymä. Martti Silvennoinen. 4 min. - A chocolate commercial.
Nigeria. 1969. Suomi-Filmi. Martti Silvennoinen. 10 min. - The wonders of Africa in colour.
Finlandia-Katsaus 567 [Finlandia News 567]. 1961. Finlandia-Kuva. Olavi Puusaari. 8 min. - President Kekkonen visits the U.S.A.
Olympiaradio 1952 [Olympia Radio 1952]. 1952. Harry Lewing. Carl-Erik Creutz. 8 min. - A fascinating documentary in radio history: global radio transmissions during the Helsinki Olympics.
Jouppilan neloset [The Jouppila Quadruplets]. 1954. Holger Harrivirta. Carl-Erik Creutz. 3 min. - A vitamin commercial.
Filmiviikko 1949 [The Film Week 1949]. 1949. Suomi-Filmi. Carl-Erik Creutz. 9 min. - An important documentary on the first Finnish film festival. It was arranged by 40 film distribution companies as a nationwide event.

...

SUOMEN ELOKUVA-ARKISTO

FINLANDS FILMARKIV

PROGRAM NOTE 1.12.2010 BY ILKKA KIPPOLA AND JARI SEDERGREN

DOKUMENTIN YTIMESSÄ 55: SELOSTAJAT III:

NUO MAINIOT SANASEPOT JA VIIHDYTTÄVÄT KIELIKELLOT

 

Kulttuurin selostajat ennen sotia olivat harvassa. Heihin lukeutui kirjailijapiireissä liikkuva lausuntataiteilija Kaarlo Marjanen, jonka perusteellinen ja persoonallinen ääntämys antoi riittävän substanssin Lauri Pulkkilan Filmistudion vielä alkeelliselle ääniraidalle. Yhtiön äänittämön palveluita hyödynsivät Aho & Soldan, Oy Adams sekä Kansatieteellinen Filmi Oy.

Marjanen niitti äänellään heinää Eino Mäkisen ja Kustaa Vilkunan perinnefilmissä Ruoveden heinänteko ja heittäytyi kansanomaiseksi muissakin yhtiön filmeissä 1936–1939. Hyppy talonpoikaisista arvoista vasemmalle osui vuodelle 1939, kun Marjanen tarjosi äänensä Suomen Sosialidemokraattisen Puolueen vaalielokuvalle Elämä ihmiselle. 

Samana vuonna naisselostajista ensimmäinen avasi äänensä Suomi-Filmin katkeran nostalgisessa kuvassa Vanha Viipurimme. Tiukka ja kirkas sointu kuului yhtiön suosimalle näyttelijättärelle Hilkka Helinälle. Hän nostatti henkeä myös Risto Orkon Taistelun tien duettona yhdessä Turo Kartton kanssa. Lisäksi selostajan tyyli sopi Valtion Tiedotuslaitokselle, kun sodan enteitä puhallettiin täysin palkein liekkiin lyhytkuvassa Sireenien kukkiessa. Vielä 1964 Helinän selostusta kuullaan, tällä kertaa tieteellisen asiallisena Helsingin yliopiston fysiologianlaitoksen filmiharvinaisuudessa Tutkijan työtä.

Vakavana soiva Helinä sai Mai-Brit Heljosta notkean ja humoristisen jatkajan. Heljo oli Janne Hakullisen mainostoimiston muusa ja Kansan Elokuvan puhuva kaunotar, kunnes siirtyi käsikirjoittaja Jukka Virtasen ja äänittäjä Aarre Elon kanssa Yleisradion leipiin. Ura urkeni televisioteatterin näyttelijättärenä. Vuonna 1958 Mai-Brit Heljo ja Kaarlo Halttunen olivat vielä sopivasti Ajan Kuvastimen selostajapari, kun Suomen Trikoon 19-vuotias mainossihteeri Pirkko Mannola vastaanotti kruunun, valtikan ja muut Miss Suomen symbolit.

Joukko akateemisesti sivistyneitä selostajia oli kuitenkin ylitse muiden muodostaen maisteritutkintoineen uuden sodanjälkeisen selostajien eliitin. Suurjuoksijan kaima Paavo Nurmi taipui monelle raidalle ja tuli kuulluksi sadoilta filmeiltä. Työnantajia olivat Arvo Tammisen Filmileijona sekä nuoremman Veli Tammisen Filmiseppo. Talvella 1953 maisteri Nurmelle koittivat tähtihetket, kun hän seurasi Arvo Tammisen yksinoikeutettuna uutisankkurina universaalimissi Armi Kuuselan ja hänen filippiiniläisen miehensä, miljonääri Gil Hilarion messukiertuetta ympäri Suomen. Muotia Napapiirillä oli päätöskuvana ikimuistoinen Hotelli Pohjanhovin kekkereistä.

Elokuvailmaisua radiodokumenteissaan lähestynyt reportteri Martti Silvennoinen sai Suomi-Filmin vuosistaan ratkaisevat virikkeet. Silvennoinen aloitti radiossa 1949 ja kohta myös sanamaalailun mielikuvien mestarina monenmoisissa lyhytfilmeissä. Armin päivä -alkupala oli Silvennoisen esikoisia, taitavasti puhuttu tunnelmapala Budapest-konvehtien nautiskelijasta filmitähteytensä nousukiidon hetkellä. Kaksikymmentä vuotta myöhemmin Suomi-Filmin Nigeria sytytti Afrikassa radiodokumentteja tehneen Silvennoisen elokuvaselostajaksi viimeisen kerran. Kömpelyyksistään huolimatta elokuva esitteli maan asujamiston tilaa rohkeasti sosiaalipoliittisesta kulmasta.

Yli 300 lyhytkuvasta kuultiin vuosina 1955–1962 toisenlainen ääni. Mies äänen takana oli Suomi-Filmin lyhytkuvaosaston käsikirjoittaja, leikkaaja ja ohjaaja Olavi Puusaari, jonka ura jatkui vuodesta 1963 Suomen Television dokumenttiosaston ohjaajana ja tuottajana. Sitä ennen Puusaari oli käsikirjoittanut ja selostanut Suomi-Filmin historiadokumentteja sekä käynnistänyt Kansallismuseon kanssa uuden kansatieteellisen elokuvan. Puusaari oli myös Finlandia-Katsauksien selostaja kylmässä sodassa, kuten vuoden 1961 marraskuisessa katsauksessa 567, kun Urho Kekkosen valtiovierailu Yhdysvaltoihin oli päättymässä yöpakkasiin ja noottikriisiin.

Vuonna 1945 alkoi lyhytelokuvienkin alueella kreivillinen ajanlasku. Carl-Erik von Creutz oli vuodesta 1939 yleisradion kuuluttaja, sodan päättyessä jo eetteriä hallitsevan instituution keskeinen henkilöitymä ja siksi aatelisen naisdokumentaristi Brita Wreden äänivalinta Lapin tuho -dokumenttiin. Sen von Creutz selosti vielä vaisusti mollissa, vaikka omasi myös pehmeän ja elämänmyönteisen soundin, joka tarttui lyhytkuvan kaikkiin mahdollisiin lajeihin maan kaikkien elokuvayhtiöiden palveluksessa. 

Ääni venyi moneksi. Von Creutz oli ohjelmistoista puhelimen kautta tiedottava ”neiti elokuva” ja Jouppilan nelosissa suurperheisten sänkyopas. Olympiaradio 1952 oli esittely radion toiminnasta Helsingin olympia-vuonna selostajanaan tietysti mister radio. Kun elokuva-ala kokosi kameransa tiivistääkseen sodasta nousseen maan ensimmäisten filmiviikkojen kaikki 20 ensi-iltaa lyhytkuvaksi, oli selostajan nimi jo lausumattakin selvä.

Ilkka Kippola ja Jari Sedergren 1.12.2010

Esitettävät elokuvat:

Hämeenkyrön heinänteko

Suomi 1936. Tuotanto: Kansatieteellinen Filmi Oy. Ohjaus: Kustaa Vilkuna ja Eino Mäkinen. Käsikirjoitus: Kustaa Vilkuna. Kuvaus: Eino Mäkinen. Selostus: Kaarlo Marjanen. Digibeta: 9 min.

Elämä ihmiselle

Suomi 1939. Tuotanto: Filmistudio. Tilaaja: SDP. Ohjaus: Lauri Pulkkila. Käsikirjoitus: Edving Méling. Kertoja: Kaarlo Marjanen. Digibeta: 5 min.

Vanha Viipurimme

Suomi 1939. Tuotanto: Suomi-Filmi. Ohjaus ja käsikirjoitus: Topo Leistelä. Kuvaus: Uno Pihlström. Selostus: Hilkka Helinä. Digibeta: 7 min.

Tutkijan työtä

Suomi 1961. Tuotanto: Suomi-Filmi. Ohjaus: Harry Lewing. Kuvaus: Uno Pihlström ja Alvar Wilska. Selostus: Hilkka Helinä. Digibeta: 8 min.

Ajan Kuvastin 42

Suomi 1958. Tuotanto: Kansan Elokuva. Ohjaus: Heimo Palander. Käsikirjoitus: Jukka Virtanen. Kuvaus: Heimo Palander. Selostus: Mai-Brit Heljo ja Esko Hytönen. Digibeta: 8 min.

Keskitystä keittiössä    

Suomi 1951. Tuotantoyhtiö: Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunta. Ohjaus ja käsikirjoitus: Hilja Lahti. Kuvaus: Heikki Jokimäki. Selostus: Irma Tyllinen ja Paavo Nurmi. Digibeta: 11 min.

Muotia Napapiirillä

Suomi 1955. Tuotanto: Filmileijona. Ohjaus: Arvo Tamminen. Kuvaus: Veli Tamminen ja Kalevi Lavola. Selostus: Paavo Nurmi. Digibeta: 9 min.

Armin päivät  

Suomi 1953. Tuotanto: Suomi-Filmi. Tilaaja: Huhtamäki yhtymä Oy. Ohjaus: Orvo Saarikivi. Käsikirjoitus: Kaarina Sarkola. Kuvaus: Yrjö Aaltonen, Aimo Jäderholm ja Uno Pihlström. Selostus: Martti Silvennoinen. Digibeta: 4 min.

Nigeria

Suomi 1969. Tuotanto: Suomi-Filmi. Ohjaus: Aimo Jäderholm ja Ari Orko. Käsikirjoitus ja selostus: Martti Silvennoinen. Digibeta: 10 min.

Finlandia-Katsaus 567

Suomi 1961. Tuotanto: Finlandia-Kuva. Ohjaus: Harry Lewing. Kuvaus: Niilo Heino, Ossi Taivainen. Leikkaus: Eero Sinikannel ja Harry Lewing. Digibeta: 8 min.

Olympiaradio 1952

Suomi 1952. Ohjaus: Harry Lewing. Käsikirjoitus: Veli Virkkunen. Kuvaus: Uno Pihlström. Selostus: Carl-Erik Creutz. Digibeta: 8 min.

Jouppilan neloset

Suomi 1954. Ohjaus: Holger Harrivirta. Kuvaus: Unto Kumpulainen. Selostus: Carl-Erik Creutz. Digibeta: 3 min. 

Filmiviikko 1949

Suomi 1949. Tuotanto: Suomi-Filmi. Ohjaus: Yrjö Haapanen. Käsikirjoitus: Harry Lewing. Kuvaus: Unto Kumpulainen, Reino Tenkanen, Aimo Jäderholm, Hannu Leminen, Eino Itänen, Vilho Pitkämäki. Selostus: Carl-Erik Creutz. Digibeta: 9 min.