Set in rural Ostrobothnia in 1859, Tuomas Kantola, a farmer, is the only peasant in the village who does not sell his land to Lohikoski's boss Adler, and even starts to annoy him by building a dam to defy the project to drain Lohikoski's lands. During the summer, Harri , a student, and Kantola's daughter Annika fall in love, which is not accepted by either of their fathers or Annika's ex-fiancé Tuomas.
Cinematography
Bleak Ostrobothnia landscapes that judge your life choices.
Acting
Aku Korhonen's stubborn farmer energy is uncomfortably relatable.
Direction
Kassila builds dread like he's constructing that dam himself.
Director
Matti Kassila
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Frans Eemil Sillanpää's 1928 novel, this captures a pivotal era when Finnish peasant land ownership was eroding under economic pressure.
Matti Kassila was only 28 when he directed this — his fourth feature — already showing the controlled miserabilism that would define Finnish cinema.
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