Matti Kassila

Directing

Matti Kassila

Born 1924-01-12 · Keuruu, Finland

Matti Kassila was born on January 12, 1924 in Keuruu, Finland as Matti Uolevi Kassila. He was a director and writer, known for Gas, Inspector Palmu! (1961), The Stars Will Tell, Inspector Palmu (1962) and The Harvest Month (1956).

Acting credits

Tähdet kertovat, komisario Palmu poster
6.6

A man's body is found on Tähtitorninmäki in Helsinki. Palmu starts to investigate the case, but the scandalous newspaper story causes problems for the police.

Tähdet kertovat, komisario Palmu

1962

The Harvest Month poster
6.7

The title of the Finnish film Elokuu translates to August. Directed by Matti Kassila, one of Finland's premiere filmmakers, Elokuu was adapted from a novel by Nobel prize winning finnish author F.E. Sillanpää. Simply put, the story concerns the decline and fall of a once-proud family, thanks to the alcoholism of its paterfamilias. Toivo Makela delivers a powerfully effective performance as the inebriated protagonist, avoiding the usual "drunken" cliches. The overlong running time, coupled with the downbeat nature of the subject, limited the film's worldwide appeal.

The Harvest Month

1956

Temples of Dreams poster
6.8

Documentary about Finnish film theaters - about their past, disappearance and future. And at the same time universal story how cinema is undeniably connected with life.

Temples of Dreams

2015

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Puotila

Scarlet Week poster
5.6

After a weekend of dancing and camping on a recreation island near the city, a young factory worker decides to stay and cut work for a day. Walking around the now deserted island, he meets a beautiful woman camping alone and sunbathing in the nude on the beach. A hot romance flares up between the worker and the more upper-class married lady, lasting through the light-filled nights of the whole summer week until the woman's much older husband returns to the island the next weekend.

Scarlet Week

1954

Lasisydän poster
6.3

A famous glass artist escapes his busy city life and takes to the road.

Lasisydän

1959

Pastori Jussilainen poster
5.7

The year is 1895 in a small village in Savo, where new ideas such as women's rights and folk high schools are vehemently opposed by Pastor Jussilainen, both in his home and in the parish. His wife Eveliina, the maids, and the conservative parishioners all experience his vehemence. However, the pastor meets his match when his mother-in-law arrives for a visit.

Pastori Jussilainen

1955

Here, Beneath the North Star poster
6.8

Täällä Pohjantähden alla is based on the book with the same title. It is a story of the little village. The movie starts in the 1890's and it ends to the Finnish civil war in 1918. Story concentrates around a tenant farmer family, although it gives us a good look at the society at whole. While the class struggle depends, people of the village are driven to bloody civil war.

Here, Beneath the North Star

1968

When the Heavens Fall… poster
6.6

A psychotherapist's life is wrecked when her private life is exposed in a sensation magazine.

When the Heavens Fall…

1972

Radio tekee murron poster
6.8

Eager young radio reporter Teräsvuori stages a one-man burglary into the Helsinki Art Museum, recorded on tape for a later broadcast by his friend Laakso. Things go awry when a gang of real criminals overhear their plans and book their heist to coincide. Teräsvuori gets caught but escapes from police custody to start his private investigations together with female radio colleague Eila.

Radio tekee murron

1951

Ruma Elsa poster
7.2

The boyish, temperamental chemistry student Elsa Kassel disapproves of her mother and sisters running after men, but when she hears that she's referred to as "ugly Elsa", she takes on a transformation. The new, charming Elsa tests her attractiveness on men and causes confusion all the way to her mother's new groom, Professor Harjula.

Ruma Elsa

1949

Mika Waltari elokuvakirjailijana poster
NR

Mika Waltari's novels, short stories, plays or screenplays are the basis for 33 Finnish films. Director Matti Kassila introduces Waltari's role in films.

Mika Waltari elokuvakirjailijana

1983

No artwork available
NR

In the film, the summer vacation is spent hiking, swimming, eating at a restaurant, doing haymaking and tending to the vegetable garden.

Onni yksillä

1947

Vodkaa, komisario Palmu poster
5.6

A TV reporter is murdered when he is eavesdropping on a secret Finnish-Soviet conference. The National Broadcasting Corporation enlists the help of police lieutenant Palmu, who comes out of retirement for this case. However, some have their doubts about the loyalities of Palmu, seeing that he was spotted in a diplomatic soiree in Moscow just a few weeks before the murder.

Vodkaa, komisario Palmu

1969

Isän vanha ja uusi poster
6.0

An architect, who has recently married a new, younger wife, tries to re-connect with his ex-wife, who is being courted by another man.

Isän vanha ja uusi

1955

No artwork available
NR

Fishing fair and boat exhibition at the Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Kalastusmessut ja venenäyttely

1947

Ruusu ja kulkuri poster
8.0

The story of Finnish singer Abraham 'Aappo' Ojanperä, who was born in the late 1850s. On his journey from a crier boy from Liminga to an international singing star, Aappo never forgets his first love Katri, who faithfully waits in Liminga for his return.

Ruusu ja kulkuri

1948

Behind the camera

Päämaja poster
7.0

The story follows Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim and Quartermaster General Airo at the Finnish Defense Forces headquarters in Mikkeli during the decisive moments of the Continuation War in the summer of 1944. With a major offensive on the Karelian Isthmus imminent, Airo gives the order to attack without consulting the commander-in-chief.

Päämaja

1970

Päämaja poster
7.0

The story follows Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim and Quartermaster General Airo at the Finnish Defense Forces headquarters in Mikkeli during the decisive moments of the Continuation War in the summer of 1944. With a major offensive on the Karelian Isthmus imminent, Airo gives the order to attack without consulting the commander-in-chief.

Päämaja

1970

Commando Assault poster
6.1

Lieutenant Takala meets his fellow partisans of 20th division many year after the war. With flashbacks we see the events of summer 1944.

Commando Assault

1963

Tähdet kertovat, komisario Palmu poster
6.6

A man's body is found on Tähtitorninmäki in Helsinki. Palmu starts to investigate the case, but the scandalous newspaper story causes problems for the police.

Tähdet kertovat, komisario Palmu

1962

Tähdet kertovat, komisario Palmu poster
6.6

A man's body is found on Tähtitorninmäki in Helsinki. Palmu starts to investigate the case, but the scandalous newspaper story causes problems for the police.

Tähdet kertovat, komisario Palmu

1962

Niskavuori poster
6.4

Ilona, a young teacher, arrives in a village in Tavastia. She and Aarne, the wealthy owner of the Niskavuori farm, who is frustrated with his marriage, fall in love. The relationship becomes a public secret. Aarne's wife Martta, who owns half of Niskavuori, wants to hold on to her husband until the last. For Loviisa, the matriarch of Niskavuori, the most important thing is the reputation and honor of the family.

Niskavuori

1984

Niskavuori poster
6.4

Ilona, a young teacher, arrives in a village in Tavastia. She and Aarne, the wealthy owner of the Niskavuori farm, who is frustrated with his marriage, fall in love. The relationship becomes a public secret. Aarne's wife Martta, who owns half of Niskavuori, wants to hold on to her husband until the last. For Loviisa, the matriarch of Niskavuori, the most important thing is the reputation and honor of the family.

Niskavuori

1984

Inspector Palmu's Error poster
7.0

A closed room mystery begins when an infamous tycoon is found dead in his bath tub. The famous police lieutenant Palmu is summoned to investigate.

Inspector Palmu's Error

1960

Inspector Palmu's Error poster
7.0

A closed room mystery begins when an infamous tycoon is found dead in his bath tub. The famous police lieutenant Palmu is summoned to investigate.

Inspector Palmu's Error

1960

Hilmanpäivät poster
6.2

The everyday life of the small village is mixed when a fire breaks out the night after the party. The cooperative manager and fire manager alerts the young judge Heiki to the extinguishing work, but due to the confusion, extinguishing the fire turns out to be more complicated than expected.

Hilmanpäivät

1954

Hilmanpäivät poster
6.2

The everyday life of the small village is mixed when a fire breaks out the night after the party. The cooperative manager and fire manager alerts the young judge Heiki to the extinguishing work, but due to the confusion, extinguishing the fire turns out to be more complicated than expected.

Hilmanpäivät

1954

Kaikki pelissä poster
5.6

A film group is making movie in the little town. Writer Pentti Töysä interrupts film group's press conference and claims that script is written by him and it is based on true story. Töysä also says that he has written a new ending to the movie and that it reveals an old murder. Not everyone is happy about the new twist.

Kaikki pelissä

1994

Kaikki pelissä poster
5.6

A film group is making movie in the little town. Writer Pentti Töysä interrupts film group's press conference and claims that script is written by him and it is based on true story. Töysä also says that he has written a new ending to the movie and that it reveals an old murder. Not everyone is happy about the new twist.

Kaikki pelissä

1994

Kuriton sukupolvi poster
7.2

Aging professor of mathematics completes his life's work, a research project that has taken him decades, and climbs up from the boiler room (his study) and back to real life. He can hardly recognize his rebellious teenage kids and materialistic wife who hardly seem to notice his existence. The only person who is interested in the professor's work is Marja, his son's girlfriend and freshman at the university. An innocent infatuation flares up between the old man and the young girl, while the professor's family is only interested in the prize money awarded to the professor by an international jury for his academic achievements.

Kuriton sukupolvi

1957

The Harvest Month poster
6.7

The title of the Finnish film Elokuu translates to August. Directed by Matti Kassila, one of Finland's premiere filmmakers, Elokuu was adapted from a novel by Nobel prize winning finnish author F.E. Sillanpää. Simply put, the story concerns the decline and fall of a once-proud family, thanks to the alcoholism of its paterfamilias. Toivo Makela delivers a powerfully effective performance as the inebriated protagonist, avoiding the usual "drunken" cliches. The overlong running time, coupled with the downbeat nature of the subject, limited the film's worldwide appeal.

The Harvest Month

1956

The Harvest Month poster
6.7

The title of the Finnish film Elokuu translates to August. Directed by Matti Kassila, one of Finland's premiere filmmakers, Elokuu was adapted from a novel by Nobel prize winning finnish author F.E. Sillanpää. Simply put, the story concerns the decline and fall of a once-proud family, thanks to the alcoholism of its paterfamilias. Toivo Makela delivers a powerfully effective performance as the inebriated protagonist, avoiding the usual "drunken" cliches. The overlong running time, coupled with the downbeat nature of the subject, limited the film's worldwide appeal.

The Harvest Month

1956

Aatamin puvussa… ja vähän Eevankin poster
4.4

A story of an escaped convict and some funny side stories during the Finnish summer, some stolen clothes and some summer romance thrown in.

Aatamin puvussa… ja vähän Eevankin

1971

Aatamin puvussa… ja vähän Eevankin poster
4.4

A story of an escaped convict and some funny side stories during the Finnish summer, some stolen clothes and some summer romance thrown in.

Aatamin puvussa… ja vähän Eevankin

1971

Natalia poster
7.3

Sammeli from Näljängä and Einari from Haataja, who were hunting bears, encounter Natalia, a cow that has crossed the eastern border. In the name of friendship between neighboring countries, Natalia is asked to return to the Soviet Union.

Natalia

1979

Natalia poster
7.3

Sammeli from Näljängä and Einari from Haataja, who were hunting bears, encounter Natalia, a cow that has crossed the eastern border. In the name of friendship between neighboring countries, Natalia is asked to return to the Soviet Union.

Natalia

1979

Natalia poster
7.3

Sammeli from Näljängä and Einari from Haataja, who were hunting bears, encounter Natalia, a cow that has crossed the eastern border. In the name of friendship between neighboring countries, Natalia is asked to return to the Soviet Union.

Natalia

1979

Pohjantähti poster
7.5

Jussi Koskela clears a plot of land for his family in the village of Pentinkulma in southern Häme. His son Akseli joins the Red Guard and takes part in the Civil War of 1918, at the end of which he is imprisoned. After his release, Akseli returns to Pentinkulma and tries to raise his family with his wife Elina, as well as acquire more land for his croft in a politically hostile environment. The Winter War and Continuation War take a heavy toll on the Koskela family, but despite this, life goes on.

Pohjantähti

1973

Scarlet Week poster
5.6

After a weekend of dancing and camping on a recreation island near the city, a young factory worker decides to stay and cut work for a day. Walking around the now deserted island, he meets a beautiful woman camping alone and sunbathing in the nude on the beach. A hot romance flares up between the worker and the more upper-class married lady, lasting through the light-filled nights of the whole summer week until the woman's much older husband returns to the island the next weekend.

Scarlet Week

1954

Scarlet Week poster
5.6

After a weekend of dancing and camping on a recreation island near the city, a young factory worker decides to stay and cut work for a day. Walking around the now deserted island, he meets a beautiful woman camping alone and sunbathing in the nude on the beach. A hot romance flares up between the worker and the more upper-class married lady, lasting through the light-filled nights of the whole summer week until the woman's much older husband returns to the island the next weekend.

Scarlet Week

1954