Olga Salo

“Tukkijoella” (Log River – 1928). Films of this genre gave the Finnish cinema and the viewing public one of its most popular characters – the lumberjack (tukkijatka, tukkipoika, tukkilainen) who at his most heroic hour becomes the log-roller or the shooter of rapids (koskenlaskija). The significance of this character in Finnish film is comparable to that of the Cowboy on American cinema. He is the pioneer, the wanderer, the adventurer. He negotiates the frontier, he is an embodiment of the conflict between wilderness and civilization.

The first Finnish full-length feature film and the first film adaptation of Minna Canth’s play of the same name. Orphaned Sylvi is married to her older guardian Aksel Vahli, but is in love with her childhood friend Viktor Hoving. A difficult situation drives Sylv to desperate deeds. A approximately 27-minute version of the film’s surviving scenes, with the most explanatory text, has been reconstructed.