Pessi ja Illusia (1954) Online

As anyone reading this comment will most likely be Finnish, I assumable have no need to check the accuracy of my expressions. You should know that Pessi is a kind of a goblin and Illusia a fairy, and this movie tells a touching story of their lives. If you are not Finnish, you should be told that the book the movie is based on is one of the most popular children's classics ever written in Finnish. Written during the World War II, by a soldier on the front, it is also part of Finnish history.

When I went to see this movie on a children's festival, I was surprised to see there were no children in the audience. And only a few adults also. And part of them even left after about half an hour. I was expecting much more popularity, as the more recent (1984) version of the movie is presented on the Finnish television every year. One could expect that people would be interested to see this old (1954) version too. The secret is, this movie is a ballet version.

Now it is obvious that the quality of ballet dancers was not very high in the post-war Finland. Such "high" culture was something a poor country could not properly afford, nor did it find it interesting. However, this movie is a serious attempt to make a serious "high" art movie. It is probably inspired by the success of the actual ballet. Pessi ja Illusia was the first real Finnish ballet, and very successful in Scandinavian scale. But as far as I can see, this movie does not have the same crew. All this also means that the movie does not follow the book very accurately, it is merely just inspired by the book.

I must admit that some parts of the movie are boring. I have never seen a real ballet, but I can assume the experience is completely different compared to this. Some of the scenes here are way too long and do not work on screen.

But still, it was an amusing experience indeed. I expected something totally different, though, so I found the first minutes hilarious. I can't recommend this to anyone used to a lot of action, so children can be count out. But it's a great drama anyway, and of surprisingly good quality.