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''Farewell, Mr. President'' (or ''Goodbye, Mr. President''; fi, Jäähyväiset presidentille) is a 1987 Finnish action thriller film directed by
Matti Kassila Matti Kassila (12 January 1924 – 13 December 2018) was a Finnish film director who achieved fame as one of the most prominent Finnish filmmakers in the 1950s and 1960s. He is most famous for the series of four Inspector Palmu movies, based on t ...
and starring
Hannu Lauri Hannu, Hennu or Henenu was an Egyptian noble, serving as ''m-r-pr'' "majordomo" to Mentuhotep III in the 20th century BC. He reportedly re-opened the trade routes to Punt and Libya for the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. He was buried in a tomb in Dei ...
. It tells the story of a disgruntled waiter planning to
assassinate Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...
the Finnish President. The film is based on a 1979
thriller novel Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Su ...
of the same name by Pentti Kirstilä. Unlike contemporary Finnish films, the film is a thrilling film strongly influenced by post-classic
Hollywood films The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...
.Jaakko Seppälä: "Kiikaritähtäimessä tasavallan presidentti", p. 225 With a budget of more than FIM 3 million, the film once received little attention from viewers and its reception were mostly mixed. However, Hannu Lauri, who played the lead, was awarded the
Jussi Award The Jussi Awards are Finland's premier film industry prizes, awarded annually to recognize the achievements of directors, actors, and writers. History The first Jussi Awards ceremony was held on 16 November 1944 at the Restaurant Adlon in Hels ...
for his chilling performance.


Plot summary

The main character of the film is Asko Mertanen (Hannu Lauri), a
Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
an waiter who have tall poppy syndrome. During his work, he sees the bosses of the city and the construction business elite celebrating "with worker's money." Feeling anger and bitterness about this, Mertanen is planning the assassination of the
President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland ( fi, Suomen tasavallan presidentti; sv, Republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the p ...
(
Tarmo Manni Tarmo Manni (30 July 1921, in Saarijärvi – 24 September 1999, in Helsinki) was a Finnish actor. He worked for the Finnish National Theatre 41 years of his 44-year career and appeared in 65 films between 1944 and 2000. Manni was known as a fla ...
). Mertanen's girlfriend, waitress Eeva-Maria (Laila Räikkä), wants to witness as he practices for his plan by shooting at a live target. At the same time, police are investigating the death of another female waitress, leading to interrogating Eeva-Maria, and during that, the police notice Mertanen for the first time. Several events come in contact with him, and in this way Detective Hanhivaara (
Antti Litja Antti Vilho Olavi Litja (21 February 1938 – 13 July 2022) was a Finnish actor. Litja made over 60 film and television appearances since 1959. A prominent figure in Finnish film in the 1970s and 1980s, since the mid-1990s he mostly appeared o ...
), who is investigating strange shootings, manages to track him down.


Cast


Production

The film was shot in the summer of 1986 in
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
,
Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
and the surrounding areas. Hannu Lauri plays the role of Mertanen, and as a bald-headed president reminiscent of
Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as Prime Minister ...
, Tarmo Manni is doing his last film role work as the President.
Jäähyväiset presidentille
' - National Audiovisual Institute, ''Finna.fi'' (in Finnish)
President Kekkonen died during the filming, and Kassila even thought that the film could not be continued. Earlier, in March 1986, there had been the
assassination of Olof Palme On 28 February 1986, at 23:21 CET (22:21 UTC), Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, was fatally wounded by a single gunshot while walking home from a cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the central Stockholm street Sveavägen. Lisbeth Pa ...
, the
Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are subj ...
, and during the filming, Mikkeli hostage crisis also happened.


Reception

Contemporary reviews gave the film both praise and criticism. Sakari Toiviainen (''
Ilta-Sanomat ''Ilta-Sanomat'' () is one of Finland's two prominent tabloid size evening newspaper and the second largest paper in the country. Its counterpart and biggest rival is ''Iltalehti''. According to the National Media Research done in 2019 ''Ilta- ...
'') considered the film a rarity: "A well-made action film in a 100% Finnish environment with 100% Finnish people". Erkka Lehtola's (''
Aamulehti (Finnish for "morning newspaper") is a Finnish-language daily newspaper published in Tampere, Finland. History and profile ''Aamulehti'' was founded in 1881 to "improve the position of the Finnish people and the Finnish language" during Russi ...
'') evaluation of the film was also positive, considering it to be done professionally, but still finding criticism for the lack of a social reference background. Pentti Stranius (''Kansan Ääni'') found the character of the murderer too obvious, even
cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...
d, while Heikki Eteläpää (''
Uusi Suomi ''Uusi Suomi'' (Finnish for ''The New Finland'') was a Finnish daily newspaper that was published from 1919 to 1991. The headquarters was in Helsinki, Finland. History and profile ''Uusi Suomi'' was established in 1919 as a continuation of two ...
'') thought that Hannu Lauri's role as murderer was very charismatic. Arto Pajukallio (''Tv-maailma'') describes his later evaluation the film's dialogue as "too contrived", while Pertti Avola (''
Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...
'') states that the story has gained more credibility over time.


Analysis

Jaakko Seppälä states in his article on Kassila's career-telling
biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
, ''Elokuvat kertovat, Matti Kassila'', that although main character Mertanen is motivated by
tall poppy syndrome The tall poppy syndrome is a cultural phenomenon in which people hold back, criticise or sabotage those who have or are believed to have achieved notable success in one or more aspects of life, particularly intellectual or cultural wealth; "cut ...
, the film itself does not deal with the "horsetrading" of politics and the business world. "Tall poppy syndrome", Seppälä says, "is the key to understanding the whole film." He equates Mertanen with
Lalli Lalli is an apocryphal character from Finland, Finnish history. According to the legend, he killed Henry, Bishop of Uppsala, Bishop Henry on the ice of lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland on January 20, 1156. Legend The story begins with an expedi ...
, a Finnish peasant who traditionally killed
Bishop Henry Saint Henry ( fi, Henrik; sv, Henrik; la, Henricus; died 20 January 1156.) was a medieval English clergyman. He came to Sweden with Cardinal Nicholas Breakspeare in 1153 and was most likely designated to be the new Archbishop of Uppsala, but th ...
in the Middle Ages. Admittedly, Lalli's act is revenge at the individual level, which is not what Mertanen's plan is. Seppälä describes Mertanen's act as collective in the sense that Mertanen believes that by his actions he will end the era of
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
.Jaakko Seppälä: "Kiikaritähtäimessä tasavallan presidentti", p. 226–227Harto Hänninen:
Häiriintynyt skini yrittää tappaa presidentin – Kassilan Jäähyväiset presidentille
'.
YLE Teema Yle Teema was a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Finnish public broadcasting company Yle. The channel was dedicated to culture, sciences and learning. The channel was known for its "Theme Saturday" (Teemalauantai/Tema Lördag) which ...
, ''
YLE Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...
'', August 17, 2017. (in Finnish)


Sources

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References


External links

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Farewell, Mr. President
' at ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'' *
Jäähyväiset presidentille
' at ''Elitisti'' (in Finnish) {{Matti Kassila 1987 films Films about assassinations Films based on Finnish novels Films directed by Matti Kassila Films set in Helsinki Films shot in Finland Finnish thriller films