Täällä Pohjantähden alla (1968)

Director:

Edvin Laine

Writers:

Matti Kassila (writer)
Edvin Laine (writer)

Release Date:

September 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

Täällä Pohjantähden alla is based on the book with the same title. It is a story of the little village...

Plot Keywords:

Civil War | Tenant Farmer | Finnish | Finland 1918 | Sequel

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Aarno Sulkanen	...	Akseli Koskela
Titta Karakorpi	...	Elina Koskela
Risto Taulo	...	Jussi Koskela
Anja Pohjola	...	Alma Koskela
Eero Keskitalo	...	Aleksi Koskela
Paavo Pentikäinen	...	Aku Koskela
Kauko Helovirta	...	Otto Kivivuori
Mirjam Novero	...	Anna Kivivuori
Esa Saario	...	Janne Kivivuori
Pekka Autiovuori	...	Oskari Kivivuori
Kalevi Kahra	...	Adolf Halme
Asta Backman	...	Emma Halme
Rose-Marie Precht	...	Ellen Salpakari
Matti Ranin	...	Lauri Salpakari
Martti Järvinen	...	Ilmari Salpakari

Also Known As:

Here Under the Northern Star (International: English title) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

Finland:182 min (TV version)

Country:

Finland

Language:

Finnish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Finland

Company:

Fennada-Filmi

Movie Connections:

Version of Täällä Pohjantähden alla (2009)

Soundtrack:

Akselin ja Elinan häävalssi

A movie on the social breaking point of Finland.

It's not in fact a movie about the Finnish civil war, but a movie about the social changes that took place in Finland before Finland claimed its independence.

The movie and novel it's based upon are both important, since they bring out the viewpoint of the losing side of the civil war, into which the social changes eventually led. Finnish people bore the scars of the civil war for many decades, and this novel was the first one to take upon the task of healing those scars.

The working class is being pressed on the edge. They are barely more than serfs and have no means of claiming the land they're cultivating and taking care of. The conditions in Finland are fluctuating at best, since the country is still an autonomic part of Russia with it's sovereign rights being disputed. The movie tells of a certain Koskela family trying to make a secure living under these circumstances on the fields they've cleared of the swamps and in the house they built from trees growing in the forests.

Each and every Finn should watch this movie to understand their own roots a lot better!