The family and life circumstances of a farmer and moonshiner get more and more hopeless and end in a tragedy. Originally broadcast in Finland as a four-part television series, it is an overlooked peak of neorealism, inspired by the naturalism of Émile Zola. “Niskanen doesn’t resort to false romanticism or the clichés of humanist cinema, nor does he appeal to pity, which would be to position himself at a remove from the material” (Peter von Bagh).
Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, Yleisradio Oy, Fiction Finland ry, and Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. Additional support provided by The Ministry of Culture and Education in Finland, Tiina and Antti Herlin Foundation, and the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation.
