#finland

[omenalehto]

pink glow / february 2023

[iibislintu]

[katieskeep]

x

[velvetypop]

Two esc favs :^)

I’ve actually got a few other favs, such as Évidemment, My Sister’s Crown, Carpe Diem, Samo Mi Se Spava (that one is so good), so MAYBE I’ll draw them.. just been hella unmotivated lately lol

[because-its-eurovision]

paidatonriehuja ig story

[oneleggedflamingo]

18.12-22

Misc.

- Vivera Rossi

[guysofeurovision]

[zheniakirsikkalove]

VV = Ville Valo / Heartagram

NEW PHOTOS! ^-^ 03/ 2023 - Helsinki, Finland

photos by Sari Casal

[princesssarisa]

Sleeping Beauty Spring: "Prinsessa Ruusunen" ("Princess Briar Rose") (1949 Finnish film)

The late 1940s saw several enchanting black-and-white live-action film versions of fairy tales released in Europe. The most famous of these is Jean Cocteau's French Beauty and the Beast of 1946; another is the charming Russian Cinderella of 1947. But another, similar film was produced in a country rarely known for its cinema: Finland, where this Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1949.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch the film with English subtitles, and I have no knowledge of Finnish. But luckily, there is a detailed English synopsis of the film online, which helped me understand what was happening in each moment.

Set in a stylized 18th century Rococo kingdom, the film's opening scene shows the peasants bringing gifts to the Queen (Mirjam Novero) to celebrate her recovery from an illness. But the Queen and her King (Aarne Laine) are sad because they have no child. (Was her "illness" a miscarriage?) That is, until the beautiful Fairy of Light (Eeva-Kaarina Volanen) foretells the birth of a princess. When this comes to pass, the King and Queen invite nobility and peasants alike to the feast – as well as the Fairy of Light, and five other good fairies, all youthful beauties in white robes and with long blonde hair. But the buffoonish Cook has lost one of the seven golden plates reserved for fairies, so at the suggestion of an impish little scullery boy named Sam – a comic character throughout the story, who, in a surreal, dreamlike touch, always stays a child even as the princess grows up – the grim, dark-robed Fairy of Death (Enni Rekola) goes uninvited. But of course she comes unexpectedly, and curses Princess Briar Rose to prick her finger at age fifteen and die, which the Fairy of Light can only soften to a hundred-year sleep.

The film's next portion is especially creative, as we spend more time in the princess's childhood than usual. On her fifth birthday, little Briar Rose visits the villagers with her nursemaid, giving them gifts and befriending a five-year-old peasant girl named Sanna. Unfortunately, she also sees a spinning wheel for the the first time and gains an interest. It's now that her parents have every spinning wheel destroyed, except for the one belonging to the castle's spinner Liisa, who confines her work to a secluded tower.

Ten years later, Briar Rose (now played by fifteen-year-old Tuula Usva) again celebrates her birthday by giving to others, this time by handing out roses. This includes a visit to Liisa's tower to give her a rose too... and when Liisa drops off to sleep, the princess indulges her longtime wish to try spinning. The Fairy of Death is there, unseen, and under her steely gaze, Briar Rose pricks her finger. But the subsequent "falling asleep" sequence is especially gentle and sweet in this film. Briar Rose doesn't collapse in a deathlike swoon, but peacefully dozes off in her chair, and the Sandman then arrives to sprinkle his sand throughout the castle. causing the rest of the court to doze off too. Afterwards, the castle is magically covered with climbing roses – thorny, but lush with leaves and flowers throughout the hundred years. A group of friendly gnomes also stay in the castle to watch over the sleepers.

When Prince Florestan (Martti Katajisto) finally arrives, Sanna, now an ancient grandmother, tells him about the sleeping princess. The peasants now wear 19th century dress, but Florestan wears Renaissance clothing for a classic "Prince Charming" look. The Fairy of Death has filled the castle with spiders and webs, but Florestan slays the most monstrous spider (a battle only seen in silhouette – a wise choice to keep us from laughing at the crude spider puppet) and scales the castle wall. He wakes Briar Rose with a chaste kiss on her head, and Cupid's arrow makes them fall in love. The King, Queen, and court awake too, the villagers greet them, and the Fairy of Light blesses the prince and princess's union.

This is a sweet, charming Sleeping Beauty, with a gentle atmosphere that blends magic, humor, and warmth. The expanded role of the kingdom's peasants adds an appealing down-to-earth quality, while further charm is added by the comic portrayals of the royal courtiers, the inclusion of magical beings such as elves, the Sandman, and Cupid and the enhanced role of children in the story. Although neither the sets nor the special effects are very sophisticated, their stylized nature suits a fairy tale, and the musical score is effective too, with shorts songs – charming, if not very memorable – and dance sequences peppered throughout the story.

Both as a unique Sleeping Beauty and as a glimpse into the world of 1940s Finnish film, this production is very much worth seeing.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @thealmightyemprex, @themousefromfantasyland, @the-blue-fairie, @reds-revenge, @faintingheroine, @paexgo-rosa, @autistic-prince-cinderella, @thatscarletflycatcher

[omenalehto]

beginning of february, 2023

[weifeili95]

made of stone and snow

[vangoghcore]

by jukkarisikko

[lewerta]

Flooded Forest

by Konsta Punkka

[amatesura]

Views from Suomenlinna at summer

Helsinki, Finland, 1965

[oneleggedflamingo]

18.02-23

Misc.

- Vivera Rossi