A top ten of Finnish cinema's intoxicating screen moments
A Finnish film without a boozing scene is a rarity. Even the characters of the most innocent rural comedies enjoy an occasional stiffener, and the alcohol consumption of the males in the movies has even been the subject of a scientific study.
To refresh these memories, Festival News asked an expert to list the greatest drinking moments in Finnish cinema. Jari Hikikorsimo, lecturer in flicks and Fosters, comments on roughly ten of his favourites.
Seitsemän veljestä (Seven Brothers), dir. by Vilho Ilmari (1939)
Juhani, played by Edwin Laine, heads the Christmas celebrations in the Impivaara cabin. The rest is history.
Tuntematon sotilas (The Unknown Soldier), dir. by Edwin Laine(1956)
Commander-in-chief Mannerheim's birthday. The officers drink coqnac, grunts homebrew. The scene is a fine example of the way social division was apparent already in those days.
X-parooni (”The X-Baron”), dir. by Risto Jarva, Jaakko Pakkasvirta and Spede Pasanen (1964)
A sunlight-triggered wake-up system loaded with hard liquor guarantees a blissful morning. I think the same innovation was used in the film Uuno muuttaa maalle.
Käpy selän alla (Under Your Skin), dir. by Mikko Niskanen (1966)
Pekka Autiovuori hits the bottle before heading to the dance floor and the world starts spinning. The new urban intellectuals of the 60s get faced in the countryside.
Kahdeksan surmanluotia (”Eight fatal bullets”), dir. by Mikko Niskanen (1972)
Moonshine 101, advanced studies and graduation: the entire life cycle of the product is examined thoroughly, from selecting materials to marketing and logistics. The quality of the product is then salivated over in the great outdoors of Central Finland.
Lampaansyöjät (”The Mutton Eaters”), dir. by Seppo Huunonen (1972)
Kinnunen and Lastumäki escape the evil world in true seventies fashion, going to an island equipped with vodka and lamb roast. The summer may be rainy, but the vodka's dry!
Arvottomat (The Worthless), dir. by Mika and Aki Kaurismäki (1982)
”Paris and calvados of the final scene showcase the purest social drinking-genre.”
Pidä huivista kiinni, Tatjana (Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana), dir. by Aki Kaurismäki (1994)
Matti Pellonpää plays a rocker wreck in Orimattila and presents different ways to open a bottle of Koskenkorva spirits. The thematics point mostly to the antisocial drinking-genre.
Joulubileet (”Christmas Party”), dir. by Jari Halonen (1997)
Angst-ridden celebration and drinking all the way through the holidays. The ham meets the hammered in Kallio.
Pohjanmaa (”Plainlands”), dir. by Pekka Parikka (1998)
”Brothers get drunk at a gravel pit in a 1980's setting. The Hakala brothers experiment with several varieties of homebrew between wrestling bouts.”
TEXT: Jari Hikikorsimo
TRANSLATION: Antti Pasanen
PHOTOS: The Finnish Film Archive and Työväen kalenteri II 1909
UPDATED: Wednesday, 20-Mar-2002 10:10:51 EET
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