The Land of Happiness (Finnish: Onnen maa) is a 1993 Finnishcomedy-drama film, set in the 1960s (when tango was all the rage in Finland), by multiple award-winning Finnish director Markku Pölönen.
The film stars Finnish actor Pertti Koivula in the lead role as Tenho, a prodigal son with patent leather shoes and dancing skills to match, who returns home to his family's rural farm for the summer after failing to make a living in the city. Tenho's brother Aarne (Taisto Reimaluoto) runs the farm while Grandma ("Mummo") (Anja Pohjola), the boys' mother, as the matriarch, tends to farm chores while caring for her boys' father (Veikko Tiitinen) in his failing physical and mental health. Other characters include Tenho's young nephew Tapi and Tenho's sister-in-law Tuija.
Tenho is immediately put to work on the farm by his brother, but Tenho is not cut out for farm life. He cannot keep up with the work even when he tries, and he does everything possible to get out of helping, even deliberately maiming himself.
Highlights of the film include Tenho's budding romance with the attractive milk maid Virva; it looks like a sure thing until Virva learns about a certain bet involving her that Tenho has made with Aarne. That's when Virva turns to ice and Tenho's feelings change to crazed obsession.
The film also features live performances by Finnish tango musician Reijo Taipale.
The Land of Happiness was Markku Pölönen's first film to be released theatrically. It was funded by the Finnish Film Foundation, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, MTV3 and AVEK's Sparrausrinki project.
In theaters, the film received just under 15,000 viewers, but the first television screening in 1993 was seen by more than a million Finns. The 1995 TV remake received about 700 thousand viewers, and the 1998 remake more than 800 thousand viewers.[1]
Awardsedit
The film won the best picture and best screenwriter awards for Pölönen at the 1994 Finnish Jussi Awards,[2] Finland's premier movie accolade.
Referencesedit
^Markku Pölönen; Markku Pölönen; Kari Sara; Kari Sohlberg; Jukka Nykänen; Jari Innanen; Minna Santakari; Igor Honkanen; Nadja Pyykkö (1993). Onnen maa.
^ (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
land, happiness, finnish, onnen, 1993, finnish, comedy, drama, film, 1960s, when, tango, rage, finland, multiple, award, winning, finnish, director, markku, pölönen, directed, bymarkku, pölönenscreenplay, bymarkku, pölönenproduced, bykari, saracinematographyka. The Land of Happiness Finnish Onnen maa is a 1993 Finnish comedy drama film set in the 1960s when tango was all the rage in Finland by multiple award winning Finnish director Markku Polonen The Land of HappinessDirected byMarkku PolonenScreenplay byMarkku PolonenProduced byKari SaraCinematographyKari SohlbergEdited byJukka NykanenProductioncompanyDada Filmi OyRelease date30 April 1993 1993 04 30 Running time60 minutesCountryFinlandLanguageFinnish Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Development and history 4 Awards 5 References 6 External linksPlot editThe film stars Finnish actor Pertti Koivula in the lead role as Tenho a prodigal son with patent leather shoes and dancing skills to match who returns home to his family s rural farm for the summer after failing to make a living in the city Tenho s brother Aarne Taisto Reimaluoto runs the farm while Grandma Mummo Anja Pohjola the boys mother as the matriarch tends to farm chores while caring for her boys father Veikko Tiitinen in his failing physical and mental health Other characters include Tenho s young nephew Tapi and Tenho s sister in law Tuija Tenho is immediately put to work on the farm by his brother but Tenho is not cut out for farm life He cannot keep up with the work even when he tries and he does everything possible to get out of helping even deliberately maiming himself Highlights of the film include Tenho s budding romance with the attractive milk maid Virva it looks like a sure thing until Virva learns about a certain bet involving her that Tenho has made with Aarne That s when Virva turns to ice and Tenho s feelings change to crazed obsession The film also features live performances by Finnish tango musician Reijo Taipale Cast editKatariina Kaitue as Virva Pertti Koivula as Tenho Hirvola Anja Pohjola as Mummo Veikko Tiitinen as Ukki Tuula Vaananen as Terttu Anneli Hirvola Taisto Reimaluoto as Aarne Tapio Hirvola Riikka Rasanen as Tangotytto Tatu Kaihua as Tapani Tapi Ilmari Hirvola Heidi Hakkarainen as Tuija Reijo Taipale as Tangokuningas Carl Mesterton as Saarnamies Jukka Puronlahti as Valkky Leo Raivio as Hannystelija Esa Halonen as MeijerimiesDevelopment and history editThe Land of Happiness was Markku Polonen s first film to be released theatrically It was funded by the Finnish Film Foundation the Finnish Broadcasting Company MTV3 and AVEK s Sparrausrinki project In theaters the film received just under 15 000 viewers but the first television screening in 1993 was seen by more than a million Finns The 1995 TV remake received about 700 thousand viewers and the 1998 remake more than 800 thousand viewers 1 Awards editThe film won the best picture and best screenwriter awards for Polonen at the 1994 Finnish Jussi Awards 2 Finland s premier movie accolade References edit Markku Polonen Markku Polonen Kari Sara Kari Sohlberg Jukka Nykanen Jari Innanen Minna Santakari Igor Honkanen Nadja Pyykko 1993 Onnen maa Jussi Film Awards 1994 in Finnish Archived from the original on 2013 12 10 Retrieved 2013 02 01 External links editThe Land of Happiness at IMDb nbsp nbsp This article related to Finnish film is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This article about a 1990s comedy drama film is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Land of Happiness amp oldid 1222764008, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
