''Vodkaa, komisario Palmu'' (''Vodka, Inspector Palmu'') is a 1969 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 ...

. It is the fourth and final part of the

Inspector Palmu Inspector Frans J. Palmu (), depicted as "a gruff detective of the Helsinki Police Department", is one of the most popular characters created by Finnish writer Mika Waltari (who is, however, better known outside Finland for his historical novels) ...

series and the only part of the series to be filmed in color. The film is also the only one not to be based on a novel by

Mika Waltari Mika Toimi Waltari (; 19 September 1908 – 26 August 1979) was a Finnish writer, best known for his best-selling novel ''The Egyptian'' (). He was extremely productive. Besides his novels he also wrote poetry, short stories, crime novels, plays, ...

. The film sees a now-retired and married Palmu helping the Finnish Broadcasting company discover the truth behind the murder of one of their reporters.

Plot

An important agreement on a tunnel building project is being held between Finland and

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in secrecy, over fears of their political effects. When the press catches wind that the meeting is held at the foreign minister's manor, the talks are hastily moved. A reporter for the

Finnish Broadcasting Company 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 compa ...

, is murdered on the grounds of the manor and his camera-man is caught by the guards. The police and Finnish Broadcasting Company can't come to agreement over how to handle the investigation, as the police want to keep the details of the talks a secret. Finnish Broadcasting Company then turns to the retired Palmu to help the company discover the truth behind the murder. This greatly upsets Inspector Virta, who asks Palmu to stay away from the case. Eventually, Palmu realises that the murder was politically motivated and that a far-right underground group was looking to silence the reporter and sabotage the talks between Finland and the Soviet Union.

Production

Matti Kassila and Mika Waltari originally planned to follow

Tähdet kertovat, komisario Palmu ''The Stars Will Tell, Inspector Palmu'' (Finnish: ''Tähdet kertovat, komisario Palmu'') is a 1962 Finnish comedy film, comedy-crime film directed by Matti Kassila. It is the third film in the ''Inspector Palmu'' series and the second one produc ...

with a TV-series based on the character called ''Lepää Rauhassa, Komisario Palmu'' (Rest in Peace, Inspector Palmu). However, a country-wide writers' strike put the plans on hold. After a few years, Kassila decided to make another Palmu movie and set it in contemporary era (previous Palmu films and novels were set in pre-War Finland and the 1950s). Waltari had no direct involvement with the film. Kassila has later admitted that the film failed to live up to the prior movies, despite featuring elements of satire involving Finnish politics and

External links

* 1969 films Finnish crime comedy films Films based on works by Mika Waltari Films directed by Matti Kassila Films shot in Moscow Films set in Moscow Finnish sequel films 1960s Finnish films {{Finland-film-stub

Plot

Production

See also

External links