“Juha“ (1999)
by Aki Kaurismäki“
Juhani
Aho`s classical Finnish novel “Juha“ (1911) was applied to cinema four times
and two times to operas. The novel got the attention also worldwide. The first
film version – silent film in 1921 was created by Swedish filmmakers, later versions
made by Finnish filmmakers. The latest version was made in 1999 by Aki
Kaurismäki. In his version he replaces the narrative from 17-18th century,
where originally it takes place, to 1970s and inverts some ideas originally
expressed in the novel on his own needs.
A farmer
Juha and his wife Marja lives their happy life in the Finnish countryside, but
soon one day Shemeikka with his elegant American car appears in the horizon. The car breaks and
while Juha fixes it, a new stranger tries to seduce his wife. She resists, but
later she realizes that he was a chance to have a life she is dreaming of, so
when he is back to the village, she escapes with him. At first, everything
looks perfect for her, but later he jails her in the brothel together with
other lovers. Marja decides to escape, but then she gets to know that she is
pregnant with Shemeikka`s child, so she stays. Meanwhile Juha is left alone in
the village suffering for the loss of his wife.
It
was not the first film when Kaurismäki took the classical novel and replaced it
to newer times – he did it with “Hamlet Goes Business” (1987) and “Crime and
Punishment” (1983). But he does not only replace the narrative, but also modernizes the characters and inverts the ideas
to nowadays. For example, in Kaurismäki`s “Juha” the idea of nationalism
(Shemeikka, trader from East Karelia – something evil (bad is something
connected to Russia, the Eastern occupier) is replaced by the good/bad
confrontation of village and the city. In Finnish film history, films we see
that village is something pure and innocent, while city is something where the
sins are. Kaurismäki also adds this confrontation to his film with Shemeikka`s
character who represents the city from which he is coming from (in the film it
is cleared out that is Helsinki, some famous objects as the Railway station or Sokos hotel are shown and used in the
narrative). Also social problems such as alcoholism or the position of woman in
the society are touched. Even though, Kaurismäki replaces the characters and
the narrative to 1970s, the universal and timeless ideas about love and the
human tragedy expressed in the novel are in the film. The director constructs
the characters from the clichés and by using cinematic simplification
(Marja, typical village girl dreaming about the prince and city life,
Shemeikka, typical don-juan), the inner dramas of characters` are expressed.
Especially Juho`s and Marja`s (after the moment when she realizes where she is
and that there is no escape), Shemeikka`s character doesn`t show any feelings
even in the moment of his death – he is dehumanized. Also in the Kaurismäki`s
film Juha`s line is changed – in the novel originally he suicides, in the
newest version he kills the seducer of his wife, but also after the fight dies
himself. Usually violence in Kaurismäki films is something what never leads to
good (vice versa than in Hollywood films – hero usually is the one who kills
the enemy), here Kaurismäki plays with the genre – on one hand, Juha becomes a
hero after making his revenge, on the other hand – he dies in the dump. This is
a kind of symbolic ethical deheroization of character – the character doesn`t
reach anything with the murder, by braking the rule of society and killing, he
automatically pushes himself out of society – becomes a dump for it.
The film
is also worth attention stylistically. Kaurismäki takes a challenge in story
telling and decides to make a silent film, accompanied by the music (not always
emphasizes the dramatic mood). There not a lot of dialogues and they appear in
the intertitles as it is usual for silent films. Also the Black & White
aesthetics is chosen. In the end of the film (the scenes in the brothel) we can
also find aesthetic references to Film Noir. The eras are mixed up – that`s
what is also usual for Kaurismäki. He plays with the melodramatic silent film
genre (that`s also as the village as a place for paradise is a reference to the
Finnish film history), he mocks at the genre playing with clichés.
The director is ironical not only with the form, but also with the content of
the film (f. e. The motive of a massive three-foot wrench to the engine). Even
though the human tragedy is depicted , so the film can be described as tragicomical.
The famous Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki is also known worldwide and he
brings the classical Finnish novel to cinemas in all the world. Even though he
uses some references to Finnish history, identity and films, his film
“Juha“ can be understood and well accepted worldwide (that can be proven by
mentioning the Berlinale Film Festival award the film got), mostly because of
the attractive film form and the universal human feelings depicted in the
novel.
Written for
my Finnish film class back in JYU, 2012
