Der letzte Akt / The Last Ten Days

G. W. Pabst: Der letzte Akt / The Last Ten Days (AT 1955). Albin Skoda (Adolf Hitler), Lotte Tobisch (Eva Braun).

Hitlerin viimeiset päivät / Hitlers sista dagar.
    AT 1955. PC: Cosmopol-Filmproduktion (Vienna). EX: Carl Szokoll. P: Ludwig Polsterer.
    D: G. W. Pabst. SC: Fritz Habeck – based on a treatment by Erich Maria Remarque – based on an outline by Leo Lania – based on the works of Michael A. Musmano, including Ten Days to Die. DP: Günther Anders. PD: Werner Schliching, Otto Pischinger, Wolf Witzemann.
    Filmed at Atelier Wien-Sievering and Baden bei Wien.
    Starring Albin Skoda (Adolf Hitler), Oskar Werner (Captain Wüst), Willy Krause (Goebbels).
    Originally 114', this one 104'.
    A vintage print with Finnish / Swedish subtitles.
    A press screening at Orion, Helsinki, 28 April 2005.

A daring film by Pabst, breaking the German Bilderverbot concerning Hitler, filming in Vienna the taboo subject that was tackled in Germany only 60 years after the fact in Der Untergang. The latter film is superior, but this one is also quite interesting and well acted.

Visually, it is extremely dark, and the Nazi leaders are almost shadows lurking in the bunker. Hitler is portrayed more like a madman than in the Bruno Ganz interpretation. Intriguingly, Pabst wanted Werner Krauss to portray Hitler, presumably because of his ability to portray evil genius and demonic fascination. Albin Skoda is very good, yet somewhere there is a fleeting aspect of something that brings to mind Mike Myers as Dr. Evil.

Unspeakable evil is almost impossible to portray in realistic terms; Caligari and Mabuse were close to the target, as Pabst seems to have realized with his Werner Krauss idea. But the banality of evil that Pabst and Der Untergang highlight is also worth dramatizing. Not one of Pabst's masterpieces, yet a honourable quality production worth seeing. ***

Sunrise – 2005 Helsinki film concert / word composition (Laura Lindstedt, Sanna Salmenkallio, Jussi Lehtonen, Hanna Ojala)

F. W. Murnau: Sunrise (US 1927). George O'Brien (Man), Janet Gaynor (Woman).

Auringonnousu / Soluppgång. 

    US © 1927 Fox Film. P: William Fox. D: F. W. Murnau. SC: Carl Mayer – based on the short story "Die Reise nach Tilsit" (1917) by Hermann Sudermann. DP: Charles Rosher, Karl Struss. PD: Rochus Gliese. M: Hugo Riesenfeld. Starring George O'Brien (Man), Janet Gaynor (Woman), Margaret Livingstone (City Woman). 

    96 min. 

    The Killiam reconstructed version in Movietone, high contrast print screened without soundtrack.

    A SONG OF TWO HUMANS WORD COMPOSITION BY LAURA LINDSTEDT to Sunrise (1927) Actors Jussi Lehtonen (Man) and Hanna Ojala (Woman)

Music by Sanna Salmenkallio performed by Sanna Salmenkallio (violin) and Max Lilja (cello). 

Bruiteurs: Jenni Bergius, Sidi Lahdenperä, Anna-Kaisa Makkonen, Riikka Pelkonen.

    Nuoren Voiman Liitto: Leikkauksia elävästä sanasta elävään kuvaan.

    Suomen elokuva-arkisto, Orion, Helsinki, 24 April 2005. 

AA: The more I see Sunrise the more heavy and abstract it gets: beyond realism, beyond psychology it takes place in a Gestalt world, where everything is broadly sketched, unfolding in a space between sleep and awakening. 

The Man is the sleepwalker, the women are two psychic forces fighting over him. The Madonna and the Vamp, beyond melodrama. The word and music composition had an aspect of Dadaistic assault on the heavy imagery.

...

SUOMEN ELOKUVA-ARKISTO

FINLANDS FILMARKIV

2005 PROGRAM NOTE BY LAURA LINDSTEDT

Laulu kahdesta ihmisestä 

Sanasävellys

 

Elokuva: Auringonnousu (Sunrise – A Song of Two Humans 1927), ohjaus Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. Teksti: Laura Lindstedt. Näyttelijät: Jussi Lehtonen ja Hanna Ojala. Musiikki: Sanna Salmenkallio. Viulu: Sanna Salmenkallio. Sello: Max Lilja. Saliääni: Suopo Kauppinen. Bruiteurs: Jenni Bergius, Sidi Lahdenperä, Anna-Kaisa Makkonen, Riikka Pelkonen. Esitys: 24.4.2005 elokuvateatteri Orion. Esitys kuuluu Nuoren Voiman Liiton ja Suomen elokuva-arkiston järjestämään Leikkauksia elävästä sanasta elävään kuvaan tapahtumaan.

F. W. Murnaun Auringonnousu on ehkä yksi historian äänekkäimmistä mykkäelokuvista. Kuvat puhuvat koko ajan liikaa. Myyttinen tarina Miehestä ja Naisesta on jatkuvaa dialogia, jota käydään silmin, kasvoin, käsin – kehon kaikilla kielillä. Englanninkieliset tekstiplanssit varmistavat viestien perillemenon.

Myös sanasävellys Laulu kahdesta ihmisestä on puhetta toiselle. Kaksi ääntä eivät kuitenkaan palaudu kahden ihmisen, Miehen ja Naisen, artikuloiduksi ääneksi, vaan ne jalkautuvat joukoksi ääniä: ääniksi menneisyydestä, ääniksi tulevaisuudesta, pelon ääniksi, halun ääniksi, eri henkilöiden ääniksi... Sanat kaivavat Murnaun juonellisesti kulkeviin kuviin uusia aikamuotoja. Kieli etsii etiäisiä ja muistumia, se tarkentaa kuvassa olevaa ja viittoo kuvan ulkopuolelle. Näin esimerkiksi koiran räksytys muuttuu omantunnon ääneksi ja tivolista karkaavan porsaan pako alitajunnan laukaksi.

Sanasävellyksen lähtökohtana on luoda kielen avulla kuvaa eri tavoin kommentoiva – tai kuvan haastava, kuvan kääntävä – äänimaailma. Sanat siis ottavat paikan, joka on perinteisesti kuulunut elokuvamusiikille. Musiikkia taas tarvitaan kielen ja kuvan volyymien kirkastajaksi. Musiikki silloittaa wagnerilaisessa draamassa näyttämökuvan ja runokielen vastakkaisuutta, ja samoin sanasävellyksessä musiikin tehtävänä on avata aisteja ylittämään ylitarjonnan ongelmia. 

Sanasävellystä voikin ajatella eräänlaisena käänteisoopperana. Oopperoiden uudel-leensovituksissa musiikki ja libretto tulevat menneisyydestä, ja näyttämö avaa tilan uusille tulkinnoille. Sanasävellyksessä näyttämö, mykkä kuva menneisyydestä, säilyy koskemattomana. Elokuvasaliin rakennetun äänimaailman tarkoituksena on luoda uusia mielen kuvia vanhojen kuvien päälle.

Sanasävellyksen voi myös ymmärtää kuvakuunnelmana. Näemme elokuvassa kaksi naista: aviosiippaa vokottelevan kaupunkivampin ja viattoman maalaisvaimon. Samalla kuulemme Naisen äänen, joka ei suostu noin vain jakaantumaan. Kuka vie, ja ketä? Kuka haluaa, ja mitä? Liike ja liukumat ylikeskustelun (voice over) ja alikeskustelun (voice under) – etäännytetyn ja välittömän, menneen ja nykyisen, kaikkitietävän ja ärsykkeisiin spontaanisti reagoivan puhujan – välillä rakentavat kuvakerrontaan uudenlaista muistia, uudenlaista halun tarinaa.

Sanojen peruuttamattomuus (”Eikö hän voisi hukkua?”) on elokuvan perimmäinen viesti, ja sanasävellyksen tehtäväksi jää kulkea läpi kaikki kielen umpikujat. Niinpä kirkkokohtaus, Miehen sovitustyön ennenaikainen ”loppuhuipentuma”, huokuu sanasävellyksessä juorun halpamaista henkeä. Ja siksi elokuvan auvoisin, huumorilla ladattu jakso, jossa rakkauden uudelleen löytänyt aviopari syöksyy valokuvaamosta kaupungin huvielämään, kääntyy kielessä hypnoosiksi, joka viimein johdattaa Miehen alitajunnan tervehdyttäville rämemaille.

Laura Lindstedt 24.4.2005

(Ks. tarkemmin Nuori Voima 1–2/2005)

La Femme du Gange

FR 1973. PC: Albina Productions / O.R.T.F. D+SC: Marguerite Duras - based on her novels L'Amour (1971), Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein (1964), and Le Vice-Consul (1966). DP: Bruno Nuytten. M: Carlos d'Alessio. Theme: "India Song". Location: Trouville-sur-Mer. Starring Catherine Sellars (the woman in black, the spouse of the traveller), Nicole Hiss (the girl at S. Thala), Gérard Depardieu (the young man on the beach, "the guardian"), Christian Baltauss (The other man on the beach), Dionys Mascolo (the traveller). 88 min. A worn 16mm print with colour intact from Gémini Films with e-subtitles in Finnish by Kristina Haataja. Viewed at Orion, Helsinki 23 April 2005. The first film in the India cycle of Duras, the filmic high point of which remains India Song. 152 shots with an immobile camera on the beach, on the sunset, and in the seaside hotel. The soundtrack and the image are radically independent. Extremely minimalistic, the aim was to butcher the three India novels by Duras.

Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert / Her Venetian Name in Deserted Calcutta (2005 lecture spectacle with Christina Indrenius-Zalewski and Kati Kuuskoski)

Marguerite Duras: Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert / Her Venetian Name in Deserted Calcutta (FR 1976). Delphine Seyrig as Anne-Marie Stretter.

FR 1976. PC: Cinéma 9 / PIPA / Editions Albatros. D+SC: Marguerite Duras. DP: Bruno Nuytten. M: Carlos D'Alessio. Theme: "India Song". Location: Palais Rothschild (Boulogne). Voices of Michel Lonsdale (the vice consul of Lahore), Delphine Seyrig (Anne-Marie Stretter). 120'. 

35 mm print projected in THE INDIA CYCLE OF MARGUERITE DURAS LECTURE SPECTACLE BY MARTTI-TAPIO KUUSKOSKI. 

Christina Indrenius-Zalewski (Marguerite Duras), Kati Kuuskoski as the mad beggar woman and puppeteer of Michel Lonsdale and Marguerite Duras. 

SEA, Orion, Helsinki, 23 April 2005. 

This film belongs to the multimedia India cycle of Duras, and is her third and final film of the cycle, for her "the most important thing I have made in the field of film art". Sound and image are radically separated. The sound is that of India Song. The image is a two-hour camera journey in the ruins of Palais Rothschild. The spectacle played in front of the screen had an aspect of a Dadaist attack on Duras.

Valentine Beldat: "Il reprend la bande-son India Song, mais sur d'autres images : Marguerite Duras filme inlassablement les ruines du Palais Rothschild à Boulogne. Pas d'acteurs, simplement des plans obsédants des façades, du parcs, de pièces vides et délabrées, des caves... Dans cet univers abandonné des voix tentent de se souvenir d'une histoire. Un homme détesté (le vice consul de Lahore) dit son amour impossible à une femme adorée (Anne-Marie Stretter) en créant un scandale lors d'une soirée à l'Ambassade de France à Calcutta... Cette passion improbable baigne dans une ambiance de lèpre lancinante : lèpre du lieu filmé, lèpre des sentiments, lèpre de la mémoire... Seule la musique redonne un peu de vie aux souvenirs d'une passion sans issue... C'est un spectacle total, hypnotisant, unique, inoubliable... Il s'achève sur un coucher de soleil, tandis qu'une mandiante chante une vieille mélodie du Laos..."

Poetry performance Fauno (1917) (1994 / 2002 Lumière Project restoration)

Il fauno / Der Traum von der Liebe – Ein erotisches Spiel von Febo Mari. Plakat zur Uraufführung des Films Frühjahr 1919 in Österreich. Entwurf Rolf Saal, Österreich 1919. Druck ROB-Verlag (Karl Rob), Wien. Image: Sitatatirulala / Plakate & Inserate / Pinterest.

IT 1917. PC: Ambrosio (Torino). D+SC: Febo Mari. DP: Giuseppe Paolo Vitrotti.
    Starring Febo Mari (the Faun), Helena Makowska (Femmina, the Princess), Nietta Mordeglia (Fede, the Model), Vasco Creti (Arte, the Sculptor).
    1325 m /18 fps/ 64 min.
    The Lumière Project restored Desmet version 1994 / 2002 (Cineteca del Friuli / Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino / la Cinémathèque Royale de Bruxelles – based on prints at Torino and Helsinki).
    Accompanied by poetry and some electric guitar strumming by Tuomas Timonen.
    Viewed at Orion, Helsinki, 22 April 2005.

The milestone of Italian Symbolist cinema revisited in its restored version, as a performance with live poetry commentary.

Intersections of Word and Image, Second Weekend (Nuoren Voiman Liitto, weekend event 2005)

Marguerite Duras: Son nomo de Venise dans Calcutta désert (FR 1976) avec Delphine Seyrig.

LEIKKAUKSIA ELÄVÄSTÄ SANASTA ELÄVÄÄN KUVAAN II. Orion, Helsinki, 22-24 April 2005 (first weekend). The Nuoren Voiman Liitto society of young poets and writers arranged a film event during two weekends. The concept: writers meet the cinema.

Friday 22 April
FAUNO (IT 1917) ACCOMPANIED BY POET TUOMAS TIMONEN

Saturday 23 April
15.00 THE INDIA CYCLE OF MARGUERITE DURAS LECTURE SPECTACLE BY MARTTI-TAPIO KUUSKOSKI.
Christina Indrenius-Zalewski (Marguerite Duras), Kati Kuuskoski as the mad beggar woman and puppeteer of Michel Lonsdale and Marguerite Duras - while Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert (1976) was screened
17.15 LA FEMME DU GANGE (1974)

Sunday 24 April
A SONG OF TWO HUMANS WORD COMPOSITION BY LAURA LINDSTEDT to Sunrise (1927) with actors Jussi Lehtonen (Man) and Hanna Ojala (Woman), music by Sanna Salmenkallio performed by Sanna Salmenkallio (violin) and Max Lilja (cello)

NEW CHANNELS OF FILM DISTRIBUTION SEMINAR (2005)

Blu-ray was released on 20 June, 2006. Source: Wikipedia: Blu-ray. Photo added in retrospect.

HD DVD is an obsolete high-density optical disc format. Released 31 March 2006. Discontinued 28 March, 2008. Source: Wikipedia: HD DVD, photo added in retrospect.

The Finnish Film Foundation (SES) Auditorium, Helsinki, 22 April 2005, all day. Opened and hosted by Harri Ahokas, head of distribution (SES).

NEW CHALLENGES OF DVD DISTRIBUTION / Leif Lindblad, CEO, Sandrew Metronome Distribution Finland. DVD has been booming for five years now, and it does not seem to be slowing down. By the end of the year, the blue laser DVD's (HD-DVD and BluRay) are expected to break.
FILM DISTRIBUTION ON THE INTERNET AND THE PIXOFF SHORT FILM PORTAL / Cyde Hyttinen, Producer, Provisual Oy
THE VIDEO-ON-DEMAND PROJECT AT PIXOFF / Lassi Tasajärvi, Project Manager, Provisual Oy
A CASE OF VIDEO-ON-DEMAND: FILMARKIVET.NO / Ole A. Werring, Project Manager (Norway)
A CASE OF VIDEO-ON-DEMAND: SF-ANYTIME / Johan Cramer, CEO (Sweden)
BACKGROUNDS OF NET PIRACY OF FILMS / Lassi Tasajärvi, Project Manager, Provisual Oy
FIGHTING NET PIRACY OF FILMS IN PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS / Martti Vakkala, Marketing Chief, Viralg Oy
DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT (DRM) AND CASES OF MUSIC DISTRIBUTION / Ben Mellin, CEO, Secury Cast Oy
A PANEL DISCUSSION ON COPYRIGHTS OF FILMS
- Lasse Saarinen, chairman of the Society of Finnish Film Producers
- Mika Taanila, film director
- Jukka Liedes, director, Ministry of Culture
- Ville Oksanen, researcher at the Polytechnic University, chairman of the Electronic Frontier Finland
- Leif Lindblad, CEO, Sandrew Metronome Distribution Finland
- Martti Vakkala, Marketing Chief, Viralg Oy
- Lassi Tasajärvi, Project Manager, Provisual Oy
...
Of this impressive seminar, one of the most memorable topics was the complex mechanism of internet piracy, very hard to fight.

Molskis / plums exhibition (2005 Jugendsali, Helsinki)

Ville Salminen: Molskis, sanoi Eemeli, molskis! (FI 1960) starring Esko Toivonen as Eemeli.

SPLASH – FINNISH FILM COMEDY EXHIBITION. Opening gala at the Jugendsali, North Esplanade, Helsinki, 21 April 2005. Artistic director: Kai Vase. Jugendsali is a beautiful hall in high National Romantic Style. The history of Finnish film comedy from 1907 to the present in charming stills, lobby cards, posters, trailers, and excerpts. The main opening speakers were the producer-director-writer Jörn Donner, chairman of the cultural board of the city of Helsinki, and Ere Kokkonen, the director of dozens of hugely popular comedies. The incompatibility of the duo was an instance of comedy, itself. The main discovery of the project was the fact that almost half of the 1150 Finnish feature films are comedies or include comic elements. The most prominent tradition is broad farce, but there is also a vein of sophisticated comedy. The comic acting talent has always been abundant, as documented by the exhibition. The question was raised how many of the films do fulfill the promise of the good time presented by the stills and exhibits, which are funny, indeed.

Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes / Water Drops on Burning Rocks

François Ozon: Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes / Water Drops on Burning Rocks (FR 1999). Malik Zidi (Franz), Ludivine Sagnier (Anna), Anna Thomson (Véra), Bernard Giraudeau (Léopold). 

    FR © 1999 Fidélité Productions / Les Films Alain Sarde. 

    D+SC: François Ozon – based on the posthumous play Tropfen auf heisse Steine by R. W. Fassbinder. DP: Jeanne Lapoire – colour, 1,66. PD: Arnaud de Moleron. M: "Träume" perf. Francoise Hardy; Mahler: Fourth Symphony; Händel: Zadok the Priest; Verdi: Requiem – Dies Irae; "Tanze Samba mit mir" perf. Tony Holiday; "Vor der Tür wird nicht geküsst" perf. Susi Dorée. 

    Starring Bernard Giraudeau (Léopold), Ludivine Sagnier (Anna), Malik Zidi (Franz), Anna Thomson (Véra). 

    85 min. 

    Photochemical impact. A brilliant Celluloid Dreams print with English subtitles by Sionann O'Neill. 

    Viewed at Orion, Helsinki, 19 April 2005. 

Ozon is a chameleon, and here he assumes the Fassbinder guise. It does look and feel like a Fassbinder film of the Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant period, although it is based on a play RWF wrote when he was 19 years old. It is a tragic chamber piece. The only location is the home of the bisexual 50-something Léopold who seduces the 20-something Franz. Much later, also Franz's girlfriend is caught in Léopold's magnetic sexual web. And it turns out that Véra used to be Léopold's boyfriend who changed his sex to please him. It's a story of desire and lovelessness. Franz's loveless mother is only a voice on the phone. Worth considering in Fassbinder retrospectives. – Ludivine Sagnier became an Ozon regular. She takes obvious pleasure in her nude beauty, as does the audience.

Intersections of Word and Image, First Weekend (Nuoren Voiman Liitto, weekend event 2005)

Charles Taze Russell: The Photo-Drama of Creation (FR/US 1914).  The poet Mikko Myllylahti provided a poem commentary to the section dealing with sacred rituals in Japan, China and India in the grandiose silent Kulturfilm.

LEIKKAUKSIA ELÄVÄSTÄ SANASTA ELÄVÄÄN KUVAAN I. Orion, Helsinki, 15–17 April 2005 (first weekend). The Nuoren Voiman Liitto society of young poets and writers arranges a film event during two weekends. The concept: writers meet the cinema.

Friday 15 April 2005
THREE SHORT SILENTS ACCOMPANIED BY POETS
The Photo-Drama of Creation (FR/US 1914, Pathé Journal edition) non-fiction on sacred rituals in Japan, China, and India / accompanied by poet Mikko Myllylahti
Entr'acte (FR 1924, René Clair) the Dadaist short / accompanied by poet Eino Santanen
At Land (US 1944, Maya Deren) American avantgardist short / accompanied by poet Saila Susiluoto
This unique experiment was quite successful. The initiative came from the poets, themselves, and they carried it out very effectively. This is a new development of the original commentator / lecturer / benshi / musical accompaniment practice.

Saturday 16 April 2005
SANNA NYQVIST LECTURE: HENRY PARLAND: THE WRITTEN IMAGE
A fascinating 90 min lecture on Henry Parland, the 1920s Finnish Modernist who wrote in Swedish and was also a visionary film essayist. One of his topics was Brigitte Helm. After the lecture, Brigitte Helm's Die wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna was screened in the luminous restored 1999 version to the Maurice Jaubert music.

Sunday 17 April 2005
ANTTI NYLEN LECTURE: ECRITURE AND ROBERT BRESSON
An excellent view of the film form and the serious substance of Bresson, with many excerpts from the films. Finland has been a great Bresson land for a long time, also reflected in this event. After the lecture, Au hasard Balthazar was screened in a brilliant print.

http://www.nuorenvoimanliitto.fi/nvl/index.html

JUKKA KORTTI LECTURE: COMMERCIALS AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN (2005)

Seija Tyni, a racing car driver for Renault for six years, a model, movie star and Super Girl in Finnish Shell commercials. Kai Gahnström provided the deep voice of the Shell Superman. Photo: Ulla-Maija Lähteenmäki, IS-arkisto. Paula Bagge: "Muistatko Shellin Supertytön? Seija Tyni ihastutti 60-luvulla huoltoaseman kuuluisissa mainoksissa – kilpaili ennen mallin uraansa rallin huipulla" (Ilta-Sanomat 19 Nov 2017).

Orion, Helsinki, 15 April 2005. A lecture with dozens of commercials, mostly Finnish and American, covering the history of both design and marketing. Commercials have often been in the vanguard of design and cinematic innovations. Of the Finnish highlights, Eino Ruutsalo's abstract commercials and the 1960s laconic Finnish Shell spots stand out.

Les Amants criminels / Criminal Lovers

François Ozon: Les Amants criminels / Criminal Lovers (FR/JP 1999) avec Natacha Régnier (Alice), Jérémie Rénier (Luc).

FR/JP © 1999 Fidélité Productions / Le Studio Canal+ / Arte France Cinéma / Euro Space Japan. P: Oliver Delbosc, Marc Missionnier. D+SC: François Ozon. Poem "Nuit d'enfer" (Arthur Rimbaud). DP: Pierre Stoeber. PD: Frédérique Chauvineau. M: Philippe Rombi. M themes from Wagner ("Liebestod"), Vivaldi (adagio from Symphony in C minor for strings). Starring Natacha Régnier (Alice), Jérémie Rénier (Luc), Miki Manjolovic (the man in the forest), Salim Kechiouche (Saïd). 96 min. A good Celluloid Dreams print with English subtitles by Sionann O'Neill. Viewed at Orion, Helsinki, 14 April, 2005. Two high school lovers murder their classmate Saïd, get lost in the wood and trapped in a violent hermit's cabin. It's about blood and sex, hetero- and homosexual. Completely different from Tarantino, in the tradition of Honeymoon Killers, John Waters, and David Lynch, maybe, but different from them, as well. The strange animal inserts remind us of The Night of the Hunter. Technically apt, yet I have a hard time connecting on any level.

Die wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna / The Wonderful Lie of Nina Petrovna (1999 FWMS / Bundesarchiv / L'Immagine Ritrovata / ARTE restoration with the Maurice Jaubert score)

Ihmeellinen valhe / Den underbara lögnen. DE 1929. PC: Erich Pommer-Produktion der Ufa. P: Erich Pommer. D: Hanns Schwarz. SC: Hans Szekely. DP: Carl Hoffmann. PD: Robert Herlth, Walter Röhrig. Costumes: René Hubert. M for cinema orchestra: Maurice Jaubert.
    Starring Brigitte Helm (Nina Petrovna), Franz Lederer (Lt. Michael Rostov), Warwick Ward (Colonel).
    3018 m /24 fps/ 109 min.
    The brilliant 1999 Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung / Bundesarchiv restoration at L'Immagine Ritrovata commissioned by ARTE with the Maurice Jaubert score.
    A dazzling print from FWMS, e-subtitles in Finnish by Antti Alanen operated by Mickael Suominen. Viewed at Orion, Helsinki, 12 April 2005.

I knew this film from the magnificent Erich Pommer retrospective in Berlin 1989. Now the restoration from the original negative and the impressive Maurice Jaubert score greatly enhance the experience.

The film can be compared with Mizoguchi, Stroheim and Ophuls. It is a story of love with a tough sense of money. Liebe als Ware: love as merchandise. She saves her lover's life and sacrifices her own. A tough yet not cynical story: she wins the moral victory over the brutal colonel and the innocent lieutenant.

Interestingly, the two great German stars Brigitte Helm and Marlene Dietrich both had their breakthrough in an Erich Pommer production, and both left Germany, refusing to work under the Hitler regime.

Most memorably, this is a feat of cinematography, brilliantly realized by Carl Hoffmann: the mobile camera, the long tracking shots, the powerful close-ups and inserts, the smooth superimpositions and transitions, the judicious effects. There are several ca 5 minutes long sequences without words.

The objects are significant: clocks, shoes, flowers, playing cards, jewels. One important line is that of electric light (shut off), fire (lit and extinguished), and candles (burnt out at the end).

The excellent Maurice Jaubert score includes a waltz love theme, a military theme, and a motif of time.

There is some over-acting acceptable as pantomime. ****

Tuntematon sotilas / The Unknown Soldier (1985) in the presence of Olli Soinio, Matti Kuortti, Tuomo Kattilakoski, and Risto Salmi, 2005 Turku

Okänd soldat / The Unknown Soldier. 

     FI 1985. PC: Arctic-Filmi. P+D: Rauni Mollberg. Assistant directors: Veikko Aaltonen, Seppo Heinonen. SC: Rauni Mollberg, Väinö Linna, Veikko Aaltonen - based on the novel by Linna (1954). DP: Esa Vuorinen. PD: Ensio Suominen. Sound: Tuomo Kattilakoski, Oscari Viskari. Sound editing: Matti Kuortti, Olli Soinio; Lars Klettner.
    Starring Risto Tuorila (Koskela), Pirkka-Pekka Petelius (Hietanen), Paavo Liski (Rokka), Mika Mäkelä (Rahikainen), Pertti Koivula (Lahtinen), Tero Niva (Vanhala), Ossi-Ensio Korvuo (Määttä), Mikko Niskanen [not the director] (Salo), Pauli Poranen (Lehto), Hannu Kivioja (Riitaoja), Juha Riihimäki (Sihvonen) Seppo Siivonen (Suen Tassu), Timo Virkki (Honkajoki), Vesa Ala-Seppälä (Hauhia), Kari Väänänen (Lammio), Pekka Ketonen (Kariluoto), Veikko Tiitinen (Kaarna), Matti Nurminen (Sarastie), Olavi Levula (Karjula), Martti Kainulainen (Korsumäki), Jaakko Kuusisaari (Mäkilä), Erkki Hetta (Viirilä), Markku Lukka (Ukkola), Risto Salmi (Korpela), Eppu Nuotio = Eija-Riitta Rantanen (lotta Kotilainen). 199 min.
    This screening 195 min. A clean and intact print.
    In the presence of Olli Soinio, Matti Kuortti, Tuomo Kattilakoski, and Risto Salmi.
    Viewed at Domino, Turku Festival of Finnish Film: tribute to Rauni Mollberg in the presence of Rauni Mollberg (not on stage in this screening), 10 April 2005.

PS. 5 Dec 2023. I revisited the long version in 2019 with a much kinder assessment.  

There are different versions of this film; this is the official cinema version; there is also a five-hour television version. Previously I had seen the tv version only. In the 1980s it was the thing in Finland to redo the big classics, The Unknown Soldier and The Seven Brothers: to take away the drama, the wit, the humour, and put young unknown actors there to open the well-known texts afresh. Here the apparent intention was to do the anti-Laine version.

The film is darkly lit, handheld camera is much in evidence, the dialogue is muffled, the approach is undramatic, humour is avoided. However, there is not as much naturalistic and grotesque footage as one might have suspected.

Scenes more effective here include the crossing of the river during the attack, the occupation of Petroskoi, and the frenzy of the retreat.

Characters present here but not with Laine include Lieutenant Colonel Karjula, private Viirilä, and WAC Kotilainen.

Of the main characters Petelius as Hietanen and Väänänen as Lammio stand out as not weaker than the interpretation in the film of Laine.

Undoubtedly superior in this film is the sound, which is often genuinely frightening, adding much to the whole. As the cinematography is dark and the faces often unrecognizable, the impact of the sound is all the greater.

PS. 5 Dec 2023. It was my birthday, and I offered the guests a glass of sparkling wine. Rauni Mollberg (1929-2007) was present, but not on stage for The Unknown Soldier. We knew that Mr. Mollberg was planning a new film adaptation of Jääkärin morsian and I toasted him with a quote from "Jääkärin laulu": " Elon mainingit korkeina käyvät " ["the waves of life are rolling high"]. He answered without missing a beat: " Niiden kuohuissa kulkee mun tie " ["through their surf I break my way"].

Patarouva (1959) / Queen of Spades

Patarouva. Kastehelmi Seppälä, the Queen of Spades (Elina Salo), and judge Kaius Kannisto (Pehr-Olof Sirén).

Spaderdam / Queen of Spades. FI 1959. PC: Kurkvaara-Filmi. P+D+SC+DP+ED: Maunu Kurkvaara – based on the novel by Oiva Paloheimo (1956). PD: Olavi Hänninen. M: Leonid Bashmakov.
    Starring Pehr-Olof Sirén (judge Kaius Kannisto), Sinikka Hannula (Pia Tiensuu, queen of clubs), Liana Leskinen (Katriina, queen of diamonds), Leni Katajakoski (Eeva, queen of hearts), Elina Salo (Kastehelmi, queen of spades), Santeri Karilo (Julius Kannisto). 96 min.
    Swedish subtitles by Bengt Pihlström.
    Viewed at Domino, Turku Festival of Finnish Film, 10 April 2005.

One of the early films of the Finnish new wave, produced with a light touch and a light production team, designed by Olavi Hänninen. Free love in a way unseen in traditional Finnish cinema. The story of the playboy lawyer and his four flames. The women are very attractive while the lawyer is smug and boring. Technically, the playback sound has an unintentionally alienating effect.

Leni Katajakoski commercials

Sun Silk (FI 1956) starring Leni Katajakoski. My screenshot from Elonet. View Sun Silk at Elonet.

Lux. FI 1961. PC: Filmitalo. Starring Leni Katajakoski. B&w. 15"

Rexona – kuin kukka / Rexona – Like a Flower. FI 1957. PC: Fennada. Starring Leni Katajakoski. 2'+. Colour. Swedish subtitles
Sun Silk. FI 1956. PC: Finlandia Kuva. Starring Leni Katajakoski. 2'20". Colour
Ristiveikkaus. FI 1957. PC: Allotria. Starring Leni Katajakoski. 1'. Colour
Viewed at Domino, Suomalaisen Elokuvan Festivaali, Turku, 10 April 2005.

Kolmiapila (in person: Kyllikki Forssell)

Esko Töyri, Kyllikki Forssell, Roland af Hällström: Kolmiapila (FI 1953). Poster design: Toimi Kiviharju. Please click on the image to explore the detail.

Treklövern.

    FI 1953. PC: Fennada. P: Mauno Mäkelä. 

    D: Esko Töyri, Kyllikki Forssell, Roland af Hällström. SC: Kaarlo Nuorvala. DP: Esko Töyri, Unto Kumpulainen. PD: Kai Lappalainen. M: Tauno Pylkkänen. "Tietäni yksin", "Kasvoi kerran kalliolla", "On harhaa sydämeni haaveuni" sung by Leif Wager. ED: Nils Holm. 

    Starring Eeva-Kaarina Volanen (Eeva, wife of Olavi), Leif Wager (Jorma the singer-songwriter), Tauno Palo (Olavi the doctor), Leena Häkinen (Marja), Jussi Jurkka (Janne), Sirkka-Liisa Wilén (Irmeli the wife of Olli), Matti Ranin (Olli the student of technology), Irma Seikkula (head of the children's home), Laina Laine (mother of Jorma), Rauha Rentola (Kaisu), Toivo Mäkelä (the drunkard), Saara Ranin (the drunkard's wife). 

    81 min

    Swedish subtitles. 

    A glistening nitrate print. 

    In person: Kyllikki Forssell.

    Viewed at Domino, Turku Festival of Finnish Film, 9 April 2005. 

An omnibus story of three "lost children" inspected by a childless couple. Quite a range of acting talent in a strongly emotional film with a lot of Zeitgeist interest about the "baby boom" era after WWII. Töyri directed the story of the criminal's girlfriend, Forssell the comically starting story of the young inventor, and Hällström the story of the philandering songwriter. Tauno Palo is the good guy this time, and Leif Wager gets to play the playboy.

Ylijäämänainen (in person: Kyllikki Forssell) (nitrate print screened at 2005 Turku Festival of Finnish Film)

Roland af Hällström: Ylijäämänainen (FI 1951). Kyllikki Forssell (Ella Qvist).

Stulen kärlek / [Stolen Love]. FI 1951. PC: Fennada. P: Mauno Mäkelä. D: Roland af Hällström. SC: Jussi Talvi. DP: Esko Töyri. PD: Ville Hänninen. M: Tapio Ilomäki. "Otshi tshornie", also sung by Tauno Palo ("Mustat silmät"). ED: Armas Laurinen. Location: Stockmann Department Store. Starring Asta Backman (Laura Kari), Tauno Palo (Lennart Qvist), Kyllikki Forssell (Ella Qvist), Saara Ranin (Alli Ikäheimo). 77 min. Swedish subtitles. Glimmering nitrate print with a good definition of light. Presented by Kyllikki Forssell. Viewed at Domino, Turku Festival of Finnish Film, 9 April 2005. "Finn noir" with strong visualization by Hällström. High melodrama about a man playing with the hearts of women. The heroine is a department store clerk, also fighting a manager's unwanted advances. Good actors, violent turns, exciting montages, expressive images and objects, Zeitgeist appeal in a story covering the years 1939 till the present.

My blog entries on Ylijäämänainen

10 April 2005  Ylijäämänainen (35 mm nitrate print at Turku Festival of Finnish Film, in person: Kyllikki Forssell)

21 May 2008  Ylijäämänainen (16 mm print at Orion)

Film concert Tukkijoella (1928) April 2005 Turku Festival of Finnish Film, Sami Pirttilahti, Eerika Mylläri, Heikki Hämäläinen, 2005 SEA restoration

Erkki Karu: Tukkijoella (FI 1928). Urho Somersalmi as Turkka.

Stockflötarna. FI 1928. PC: Suomi-Filmi. P+SC: Erkki Karu – based on the musical comedy by Teuvo Pakkala (1899) with music by Oskar Merikanto. D: Axel Slangus, Wilho Ilmari. DP: Frans Ekebom. PD: Carl Fager. M for cinema orchestra arranged by Emil Kauppi. ED: Axel Slangus, Frans Ekebom. Starring Urho Somersalmi (Turkka), Ellen Sylvin (Pietolan Katri), Mary Spennert-Hannikainen (Anni), Litja Ilmari (Pahna-Maija), Olga Salo (Leena), Kirsti Suonio (Maija Rivakka), Eino Salmela (rättäri), Paavo Costiander (Huotari), Ossi Korhonen (Pölhö-Kustaa), Heikki Välisalmi (Tolari). 2852 m /24 fps/ 103 min. Finnish / Swedish intertitles.

Print with colour toning from the 2005 restoration by Suomen elokuva-arkisto. Mostly a very beautiful print, with some shots in low contrast. Screening with a sound gate at Domino, Turku Festival of Finnish Film, 9 April 2005.

THE FILM CONCERT with Sami Pirttilahti (accordeon), Eerika Mylläri (accordeon), Heikki Hämäläinen (cello). The selection of the instruments was inspired, but the erratic musical programme missed the point, ignoring Merikanto, who composed many great tunes for the play, lyrics of which are quoted in the intertitles.

THE FILM is the first of three cinema adaptations of Finlands most popular musical play (besides Jääkärin morsian). It was realized as a silent film, but one can safely assume that the live musical performances based on Emil Kauppi and Oskar Merikanto have been a large contribution to its success. This film is anyway the weakest of the three. The manuscript misses important points, the direction and the montage are clumsy, but as a showcase of major talents it is fascinating for Finnish viewers (only?).

...

MY BLOG NOTES ON TUKKIJOELLA (1928)

Film concert Tukkijoella (1928) April 2005 in Turku Festival of Finnish Film (Sami Pirttilahti, Eerika Mylläri, Heikki Hämäläinen)

Film concert Tukkijoella (1928) September 2005 at Orion, Helsinki (original Oskar Merikanto, Emil Kauppi score arranged by Tuula Hällström)

Film concert Tukkijoella (1928) October 2013 at Helsinki Music Centre (new original Kimmo Hakola score played by the Radio Symphony Orchestra)

TURKU FESTIVAL OF FINNISH FILM 2005

Kyllikki Forssell in 2007 when she published her memoirs, Suurella näyttämöllä. Photo: Ulla-Maija Lähteenmäki, Ilta-Sanomat, 7 Oct 2019.

The Turku Festival of Finnish Film took place 7-10 April, 2005 at Cinema Domino. I got there on Saturday morning, 9 April. Memorable besides the events registered in the entries below:

1. VEIKKO AALTONEN presented his documentary film Työväenluokka (Arbetarklassen / The Working Class, 2004), part of his trilogy also including Maa (Jorden / Earth, 2001 - on farmers), and Paimenet (Herdarna, The Shepherds, 2005, on priests).
2. RAUNI MOLLBERG, VEIKKO AALTONEN, TUOMO KATTILAKOSKI at lunch at the Musta Rudolf restaurant by the Aurajoki river.
3. RAUNI MOLLBERG presented his television mini-series Siunattu hulluus (Välsignade galenskapen / Blessed Madness, 1975). In his ambitious tv drama productions Mollberg is at his best. This one was shown as a video projection.
4. KYLLIKKI FORSSELL, at 80, was in great form. In her first presentation she reminisced about her early years in the film industry, her participation in the 1960s new wave, and her work with Kaisa Rastimo. Her second presentation was about her theatre career. "There is no actor in Finland who cannot imitate Edvin Laine", she said. There were at the Finnish National Theatre the actors "belonging" to Kivimäki, Witikka, Ilmari, or Laine. She belonged to the Laine actors. Laine wanted to build actors by giving them different and ambitious roles. Forssell was one of the first to wear jeans in the 1950s. "Herra Jumala tuota Kyllikkiä kun se kulkee noin kireissä housuissa" ("My God, how that Kyllikki is wearing such tight pants"): this is where we heard Forssell do her Edvin Laine imitation. At Svenska Teatern, the Swedish Theatre of Helsinki, Forssell was asked to play in Gustaf III by Strindberg. As it turned out that she was offered the title role she asked to think it over. She studied the character, and the next day she said yes: "It turned out we have one thing in common: we both like boys".
5. VEIKKO AALTONEN presented Milka (1980), a film ahead of its time, he said, modern in its means. There were two trailers before the screening:
6. MAA ON SYNTINEN LAULU TRAILER (Jorden är en syndfull sång trailer / The Earth Is a Sinful Song trailer, 1973)
7. TUNTEMATON SOTILAS TRAILER (Okänd soldat trailer / The Unknown Soldier trailer, 1985)
8. LENI KATAJAKOSKI presented Kaks' tavallista Lahtista (Två vanliga killar / Two Ordinary Guys, 1960). She was a bright young blonde in the films of the 1950s and the 1960s. Found at a beauty contest, she came to the movies. "There were many funny incidents, which I cannot repeat here". Later she was 20 years an actress at the Seinäjoki Theatre, "which had a good ensemble", and she got to act the full range of different roles. Many of her films she now considers plain stupid.
9. OLLI SOINIO, TUOMO KATTILAKOSKI, and MATTI KUORTTI at lunch at the Bossa restaurant next to the Market Square. We discussed the various release versions of Mollberg's The Unknown Soldier.
10. TUNTEMATON SOTILAS TRAILER (Okänd soldat trailer / The Unknown Soldier trailer, 1956) 4 min - the trailer produced after the 1956 Berlin Film Festival, including some of its footage, many memorable scenes from the film for comparison with Mollberg's film