Women of Niskavuori
Valentin Vaala, 1938, 85 min
Finnish with English subtitles

Adapted from a play by novelist Hella Wuolijoki (who initially wrote under a male pseudonym) this is Valentin Vaala's pivotal work of the 1930s and the first in a series of five films chronicling the life of a wealthy farm household across decades and generations. Compared to an equally successful series of "provincial comedy-dramas" made by Marcel Pagnol in France, Vaala's work proves to be visually more adventurous with its camera movements and faster pace.

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