Juha
Juha
dir. Aki Kaurismäki
Finland, 1998 - 78
The fourth film version of Juhani Aho's 1911 novel, Kaurismäki, follows Mauritz Stiller, Nyrki Tapiovaara and Toivo Särkkä, who, in 1920, 1937 and 1956 respectively, offered their interpretations of what Aho called "a triangle drama with one women and two men". From the man of few words, Aki Kaurismäki, comes his new "Juha" - a silent film.
Marja, a former servant girl, is married to Juha, who is older and plain simple-minded. Enter a stranger: Shemeikka.
"Literature is full of triangle dramas, but very few of them can beat Juhani Aho's "Juha" (1911) for deepness of emotions and understanding of all three parties. The story is straight and strong, yet full of detail, just waiting to be ruined by cinematic means. I had planned to fi1m "Juha" almost as long as we had planned to make a silent movie with composer Anssi Tikanmäki. One day we were clever enough to put the ideas together and the catastrophe was ready." Aki Kaurismäki
Juhani Aho (1861-1921) - writer of the novel "Juha"
Journalist and the first Finnish professional writer to gain literary fame in his own time.Although he chose his subjects from Finnish folk life, his works were far from provincialism. They consciously reflected modern literary movements, especially realism.
read more
