Noita palaa elämään (1952)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Roland af Hällström

Writers:

Roland af Hällström (writer)
Kaarlo Nuorvala (writer)

Release Date:

3 October 1952 (Finland)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Archaeological team unearths a body of a young woman, who was told to be a witch buried in the bog some 300 years ago...

Plot Keywords:

Witch | Folklore | Living Dead | Based On Play

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Mirja Mane	...	Birgit Suomaa
Toivo Mäkelä	...	Hannu
Hillevi Lagerstam	...	Greta, Hannu's Wife
Sakari Jurkka	...	Veikko Hallberg
Helge Herala	...	Kauko
Aku Korhonen	...	Baron
Rakel Laakso
Elna Hellman	...	Sauna-Maija
Elsa Turakainen	...	Leena
Elli Ylimaa	...	Saara
Einari Ketola	...	Janne
Jalmari Parikka	...	Henrik

Also Known As:

The Witch (USA)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

Finland

Language:

Finnish

Color:

Black and White

Certification:

Finland:K-3 (DVD rating) (2005) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1952)

Filming Locations:

Suitia Castle, Siuntio, Finland

Company:

Fennada-Filmi

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Lumikki ja 7 jätkää (1953)

Rare Finnish 'horror'

Made after the Second World War, this film, which would translate to English as 'The Witch returns to life', shows the lack of funding so common in the post-war era in Finland. But yet, to keep people's humor up, the film industry did everything to ease the living of the poor households. The 'horror' part of this film might seem to us now more or less amusing.

The seemingly light subject of the film has underlying social issues: The Second World War had ended just barely seven years ago. The heavy war indemnities forced Finnish industry to boost up its productivity. The agricultural Finland was moving faster and faster towards city-life. Women's rights were still in the developing stage. Especially in the countryside and farms the women were the ones to take care of the household while the men were busy out in the fields to secure the year's crop. 'Unconventially' behaving female was prone to draw negative attention - especially if she was young and attractive. The villager's moods could have easily turned to witch hunt-like persecution.

Mika Waltari (September 19, 1908 – August 26, 1979) is one of the best known writers of Finland. His works have been translated to many languages all over the world. The most famous book is 'Sinuhe - the Egyptian', which made the Bestsellers list in many countries and is translated to 40 languages. 'The Egyptian' - a Hollywood movie was made according to 'Sinuhe' in 1954 (Director Michael Curtiz). The theater play 'Noita palaa elämään' (1947) is one of his 26 plays and was made for film in 1952 - the year Helsinki had the Summer Olympic Games. Altogether 33 books of Waltari have been filmed.