''Farewell, Mr. President'' (or ''Goodbye, Mr. President''; ) is a 1987 Finnish action

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

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. It tells the story of a disgruntled waiter planning to

assassinate Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

the Finnish President. The film is based on a 1979

thriller novel Thriller is a genre of fiction with numerous, often overlapping, subgenres, including crime, horror, and detective fiction. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving their audiences heightened feelings of suspe ...

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, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, has significantly influenced the global film industry since the early 20th century. Classical Holly ...

.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 Hel ...

for his chilling performance.

Plot summary

The main character of the film is Asko Mertanen (Hannu Lauri), a

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

an waiter who has tall poppy syndrome. During his work, he sees the bosses of the city and the construction business elite celebrating "with the workers' money." Feeling anger and bitterness about this, Mertanen is planning the assassination of the

President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland (; ) is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024 Finnish presidential election, 2024. The presi ...

(

Tarmo Manni Tarmo Manni (30 July 1921, in Saarijärvi – 24 September 1999, in Helsinki) was a Finnish theatre and film actor. He worked for the Finnish National Theatre 41 years of his 44-year career and appeared in 65 films from 1944 to 1999. Manni was ...

). 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 () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

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 Central European Time, CET (22:21 Coordinated Universal Time, 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 ...

, the

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister of Sweden (, "minister of state") is the head of government of the Sweden, Kingdom of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are subject to th ...

, and during the filming, Mikkeli hostage crisis also happened.

Reception

Contemporary reviews gave the film both praise and criticism. Sakari Toiviainen (''

Ilta-Sanomat is one of Finland's two prominent tabloid-size evening newspapers and the largest paper in the country. Its counterpart and biggest rival is '' Iltalehti''. According to the National Media Research done in 2019, ''Ilta-Sanomat'' is also the bi ...

'') considered the film a rarity: "A well-made action film in a 100% Finnish environment with 100% Finnish people". Erkka Lehtola's (''

Aamulehti ''Aamulehti'' ( Finnish for "morning newspaper") is a Finnish-language daily newspaper published in Tampere, Finland. Established in 1881 by Finnish patriots in Tampere, the newspaper aimed to bolster the Finnish language and people's identity d ...

'') 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 a saying, idea, or element of an artistic work that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, novelty, or literal and figurative language, figurative or artistic power, even to the point of now being b ...

d, while Heikki Eteläpää (''

Uusi Suomi ''Uusi Suomi'' () 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 earlier newspapers, ''Suometar' ...

'') 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 , 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 the Finnish capital ...

'') 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 basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

, ''Elokuvat kertovat, Matti Kassila'', that although main character Mertanen is motivated by

tall poppy syndrome Tall poppy syndrome is a term that originated in Australia and New Zealand in the 1980s that refers to people with notable public success, who excessively promote their own achievements and opinions. Intense scrutiny and criticism of such a per ...

, 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 Finnish history. According to the legend, he killed Bishop Henry on the ice of Köyliönjärvi on 20 January 1156. Legend The story begins with an expedition of one of the first Christian missionaries ...

, a Finnish peasant who traditionally killed

Bishop Henry Henry (; ; ; 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 the independent church province of Swed ...

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 that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

.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, science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of ...

, ''

YLE Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

'', August 17, 2017. (in Finnish)

Sources

References

External links

* *
Farewell, Mr. President
' at ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' 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 September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' *
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 Tampere Finnish thriller films