User reviews

I first came across Teuvo Tulio in a piece of silent tosh called, in English, "The Gypsy Charmer". I thought at the time there was a touch of the Valentino's about him albeit younger, (he was only 17 at the time), and camper. He subsequently went on to a fairly lengthy career as a director of outrageous melodramas of which "Unelma Karjamajala" is one. It's a tale of rural passions that wouldn't disgrace King Vidor and, though made in 1940, the images look like they might have come from silent cinema while some of the situations could have come straight out of Griffith. Indeed the film's dramatic highlight is silent except for the music score. It was never likely that any of the cast , who emote in capital letters, would ever go on to international stardom, (sadly leading man Kaarlo Oksanen was killed the following year), yet all the performances are perfectly in keeping with the material while the cinematography, credited to Felix Forsman, Armas Fredman and Eino Heino, is often outstanding.