Close Up

23 January 2019: The Broad Way

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The Broad Way
Valentin Vaala, 1931, 96 min
Finnish with English subtitles

"[The Broad Way] was the third film by Valentin Vaala and his leading actor, budding director Teuvo Tulio: two young cosmopolitans with a great passion for cinema. Vaala loved Lubitsch, while Tulio was called the Finnish Valentino. The title of the film refers to the Sermon on the Mount: "The path is wide, which leads to damnation." Vaala designs a cinema of beautiful surfaces: fast cars, elegant costumes, neon lights and jazz. Some interiors seem to be just painted backgrounds, reinforcing the impression of the superficiality of the protagonist's ideals: Lardozzo, a playboy, which is irresistible to women and is both a violin virtuoso and a ski jumping master. He is spoiled by success, but on Christmas Eve he has to face his inner emptiness." – Vienna Filmmuseum


Part of Antti Alanen and Ehsan Khoshbakht's Masterpieces of Finnish Cinema season