Helsinki, ikuiseti
Director Peter von Bagh
Countries Finland
Duration 74 min
Synopsis
Peter von Bagh revives the silent tradition of the 'city symphony', but while the old classics of the genre confined the action to one day, Helsinki, Forever spans a century with its collage of actuality film, fiction films, paintings, music, and song. The film surveys the city geographically, quarter by quarter, and at the same time historically. The nine decades of the independent Republic of Finland have been eventful and often brutally violent; but rather than getting a neat informative chronology, the viewer experiences the baffling turmoil of history as did those who lived it, and whom we observe, thanks to motion picture film. Ceaselessly they pass before us, real-life people or created characters, on the street, in the parks, at the movies, on parade, at political rallies, in processions of enthusiasm or protest. Von Bagh points out perceptively that in all these filmed moments of history you are certain to find the face of a child looking out at us – and at his own future. And dominating all is the collective history of buildings: the architecture of the city, celebrated by its painters and filmmakers, in turn conceived in optimistic pride and subjected to abuse and demolition. Von Bagh’s film is a remarkable poetic achievement. We do not just observe history: in the words of the commentary, 'History looks upon us'." (David Robinson)
Peter von Bagh revives the silent tradition of the 'city symphony', but while the old classics of the genre confined the action to one day, Helsinki, Forever spans a century with its collage of actuality film, fiction films, paintings, music, and song. The film surveys the city geographically, quarter by quarter, and at the same time historically. The nine decades of the independent Republic of Finland have been eventful and often brutally violent; but rather than getting a neat informative chronology, the viewer experiences the baffling turmoil of history as did those who lived it, and whom we observe, thanks to motion picture film. Ceaselessly they pass before us, real-life people or created characters, on the street, in the parks, at the movies, on parade, at political rallies, in processions of enthusiasm or protest. Von Bagh points out perceptively that in all these filmed moments of history you are certain to find the face of a child looking out at us – and at his own future. And dominating all is the collective history of buildings: the architecture of the city, celebrated by its painters and filmmakers, in turn conceived in optimistic pride and subjected to abuse and demolition. Von Bagh’s film is a remarkable poetic achievement. We do not just observe history: in the words of the commentary, 'History looks upon us'." (David Robinson)