WHOW!
Director Tulio - along with plot concocters - seems to out-do himself on another of his apparently still rather successful in Finnish postwar times, pretentious, portentous porridge piffle! In yet another of his subtexts of men (well, at least those of post Finnish war) are just utter (utter) s**ts - er, cads, I mean. In this one, played by Eino Katajavouri in such a detached way as to seem to be either his protest at the appalling character and lines (by regular melodramatic scriptwriter partner, Nisse Hirn) he has to deliver, or just his outright uselessness.
Two sisters are irredeemably - and mystifyingly - besotted in love with this disinterested defiler, since he's noticeably already even older as to be their proverbial Dad - younger sister (Toini Vartianen - although, played far more alluringly in the 'twin' Swedish version by Harriet Phillopson) flirting with him at her bedside even though she's 'not a woman' yet: so to be rather more like that Dad's even older (lecherous!) brother = their Uncle!
But he shouldn't be: coz actually he's the local fine upstanding family doctor: nevertheless, now with elder sister (Tulio's regular leading lady, Regina Linnanheimo) after she tells his fortune in cards strewn about the floor, then his Hippocratic oath is instantly overcome as he embraces her as the ace of spades at right angles 'pierces' the empty space of the six of diamonds (follow Tulio's symbolism?)
so that next shot, both now unclothed - (as shown, at least at the shoulder) - Regina confesses to having been "naughty" (Swedish version translation subtitles!) and somehow now feels "a little bad": but he assures it's OK coz he "loves" her, and no shock, horror, this pre-marital tryst produces a bouncing boy, the apple of his eye. Said lad is brought up in a home with all the trappings of wealth and privilege since along with not only animals' heads and skins on the walls, there's a bust of the famed national composer, Sibelius on the mantelpiece, but plus also seems at least two full size nude female statues just sitting about the home, even. So the precious young 'un is presumably brought up equally treasured to have been taught of life's lessons (looming large nude ladies, at least): that is until one fine day, Regina now suffused with Motherly and marital contentedness, goes off to get a fine new hat, but whilst fussing over these, young son wanders off though, into the street; but Doc family / Father have negligently not taught him anything about road safety, coz not only does a fast cornering car not deter him from still running into the 'busy' road - (not even chasing a ball or cat or something distracting) - to be oblivious to the apparently speeding (well, film sped up, anyway) buses there, and so is promptly mown down (Losing kids is also a recurring theme of Tulio: perhaps he didn't like 'em, only useful for plot purposes). Understandably distraught, cause the erstwhile blissfully happy couple to drift apart, since doc accuses it being all her (Maternal) fault for going after feminine "fineries", instead of not watching over their their precious son: alternatively, the 'Darwin awards' evolutionary axiom clearly at work, though.
Back into this now cold unhappy home returns that earlier flirtatious little sister, still smitten by the doc that treated her seven year ago broken foot, as she was about to turn womanly age (so he'd rebuffed her earlier teenage crush kiss, at that time): but now she's a grown woman, (oh, and plus that after seven years, amazingly, her foot is recovered, too - at least, they all seem to think that's so surprising!): hearing him dally with her, Regina attempts attention seeking by doing something with 'poison' from hubby Doc's handy convenient home pharmacy - again, middle class negligently not locked away or anything sensible like that: fortunately it's not fatal - (attention seeking, see?) - Or rather not 'see' now, as this leaves her only blind, so that fine upstanding doc can conveniently conduct an illicit affair with her younger sister right under her blinded nose: no doubt all her cause since having immediately stayed with them, he stumbles across the younger sister bathing, and although at first gentlemanly retreating, when elder sister enquires how her younger sister now looks, decides this is the ideal time to describe her to his blind wife who, recall, he just happens to have constantly shunned since son's demise, in such slavering ravishing way, as she modestly cowers behind a very short towel ("she has beautiful full kissable lips .. and her body, well, and her legs
.").
I shouldn't plot spoil, but do stick with this turgid tale, for later, you'll get to relish Regina chew the scenery so consummately in her blind incarnation, that surely Peter Sellars saw to nick as an inspiration for his 'Doctor Strangelove' character, as the over-acting belies the director's early beginnings himself as an actor in silents. And don't let the fact that she is blind worry you that Regina's spectacular (ocular?!) trademark rolling eyes emoting shall be obscured, for towards the end she goes into so much overdrive portrayal that it won her the country's Oscar equivalent (the 'Jussi'.)
So, as far as I'm concerned, Tulio is the Finnish archetypal 'women's director' (á la US Cukor) and I find it incredulous that these tired, dated melodrama plot line films were apparently astonishingly popular with Finnish audiences in that immediate post war period: no wonder its women have a reputation to be not just equal, but morally and intellectually superior to these men constantly portrayed as heartless, perfidious dunderheads!
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