A group of men all called Frank—except for one named Pekka—have had enough of life in their working-class neighborhood, so they set off for a better existence in the magical seaside district of Eira. But the way is long, and the group face many hurdles including stray dogs and defunct...
Laila is an innocent Lappish girl and the only daughter of a reindeer herder. During world war II Laila rescues crashed German fighter pilot Hans and the two develop warm feelings for each other during his convalescence. Years later, after the war, Hans returns to Lapland as a freelance...
Young Alex Sammakko has seen his brothers defy the law in a series of deeds that first land them in jail, and then, after they escape and return to their rural home, land them back in the lap of their locally notorious family. Alex wants nothing to do with them. He is in love with Mirja, whose...
Anssi Mänttäri’s low-budget movies with their intimate content have become classics. In this black comedy that takes place in Helsinki in summer the main character (played by Mänttäri himself) jumps from one bar and bed to the next. Especially vulgar black humour.
Semi-fictitious biopic of Finnish poet Eino Leino, made with a large budget to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth. The film concentrates on his relationships with first wife Freya Schoultz and later muse, poetess L. Onerva. His friends include equally central figures of the Finnish...
A woman meets a man who tells her that they have known each other 11 years ago and wishes to take her out. Woman does not recall him and in her mind she thinks back and goes through several random meetings from the past, yet he does not seem to be any of those men from her past. Woman continues the...
Businessman Erkki Hakala returns to Ostrobothnia after years in Florida and buys a metal workshop in Jalasjärvi from the unknown Partanen brothers with his business partner Taisto Matsomppi. Erkki misses his wife Kaisu, who back in the day stayed in Finland, and his child, but will the man be...
The story follows Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim and Quartermaster General Airo at the Finnish Defense Forces headquarters in Mikkeli during the decisive moments of the Continuation War in the summer of 1944. With a major offensive on the Karelian Isthmus imminent, Airo gives the order to attack...
Lauri Valjakka, a lecturer at the Department of Sociology, is thoroughly fed up with his family, whom he refers to as a "consumption unit," and his irritating, rigid wife. After a tedious train journey, Valjakka decides to leave his wife. He manages to escape to a station restaurant, where he meets...
A middle aged widower Sanna has emigrated to Sweden after her husband's death . She lives in Linköping with her two children and works in the local library. During one of the lectures held for the immigrants in the library, she meets doctor Peter Mackus and starts exchange letters. Quite soon they...
Matti Mäki is a young man who gets involved with a corrupt police man seeking proof that his wife, a night club singer, is cheating on him in this film noir style thriller.
April is the Cruelest of Months is a 1983 film directed by Suvi-Marja Korvenheimo, also known as Anssi Mänttäri, and the final part of the Korvenheimo trilogy. It was named after the first verse of T. S. Eliot's poem series The Waste Land. The film, shot in ten days, is a satire on the candles of...
The Torniainen are a couple consisting of Raija, a flight attendant, and Hanski, a civil engineer. They have long wanted to have a child. Tests show that Hanski is infertile, and the doctor offers little hope.
Eero Tyrni, a reporter for Iltapäivä newspaper, is in Austria doing a story on ski jumper Teemu Kimpilä. Kimpilä's jumps fail and he disappears from the scene. Left behind are his third wife Sari, his sponsors, the Ski Association, and the Finnish people. Tyrni is tasked with finding out where...
