Sensuela

1973 Finnish film

Marianne Mardi
Mauritz Åkerman
Ossi Elstelä
Ismo Saario

CinematographyTeuvo Tulio, Yrjö NortaEdited byYrjö NortaMusic byPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Production
company

Suomi-Filmi Oy

Distributed bySuomi-Filmi Oy

Release date

29 May 1973 (1973-05-29)

Running time

110 minutes (original version)
105 minutes (cut version)CountryFinlandLanguagesEnglish (original)
Finnish (re-recorded)

Sensuela is a 1973 Finnish drama film directed and written by Teuvo Tulio. The film is based on Tulio's 1946 film Rakkauden risti which itself was based on The Stationmaster, a short story written by Alexander Pushkin.^[1] Sensuela was Tulio's final film, and it was met with harsh criticism. Since its release, it has gained a reputation as a campy cult classic and has been called "the weirdest Finnish film ever made".^[2] Although the production was finished in 1972, it was not released until a year later and then opened only in selected theatres.

Premise

Sensuela is the story of Laila, a girl from Lapland, and Hans, a German soldier, who fall in love during the Continuation War.^[3]

Main cast

Marianne Mardi as Laila Walk
Mauritz Åkerman as Hans Müller
Ismo Saario as Pekka
Ossi Elstelä as Laila's father
Maria Pertamo as Greta Kujala

Release

Sensuela was the first film to be rated 18 by the Finnish Board of Film Classification.^[4] After its initial release, Tulio prevented the film's subsequent distribution, and it only became available after his death in 2000.^[5]

References

^ Sensuela (1973). KAVA. 1972. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
^ "Sensuela (18)". Yle. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
^ Silén, Jarkko (3 March 2003). ""JOPA JÖRN D:KIN VARMASTI PUNASTUISI" – Mauritz Åkermanin haastattelu". Film-O-Holic.com. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
^ Sundholm, John (2012). Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema. Scarecrow Press. p. 147. ISBN 9780810855243.
^ Stevenson, Jack (2010). Scandinavian Blue. McFarland & Company. pp. 124–128. ISBN 9780786444885.