Kummeli Subtenant

Subtenant is Kummeli's take on blackmail, kidney transplantation at home, emancipation and mindless mayhem using traditional farce as a cinematic tool.

Synopsis

Kidney transplant surgeon Lauri Mustonen (Mikko Kivinen) and university entomologist Pauli Bergström (Heikki Silvennoinen) live in a prestigious property in the city's most expensive residential area. The apartment has been owned for years by old lady Lydia Molotova (Tuija Ernamo), who hasn't raised the rent in a long time. Now, however, she has given the apartment as an advance inheritance to her nephew, Sergeant Major John Molotov (Heikki Hela), who decides to raise the rent sky-high and move his great-aunt Lydia Molotova into the apartment.

From there begins an imaginative chain of events, with an absurd plot that moves the characters from one situation to the next in a fast-paced manner that is characteristic of Finland's most popular comedy group, Kummeli.

Subtenant is also a success story

Subtenant is based on a play originally written for the theatre stage by Timo Kahilainen and Heikki Vihinen. It has been a huge success at Tampere Theatre. In February 2008 it had already been seen by over 100,000 people.

A brief history of the comedy group, Kummeli

The Tampere-based comedy group Kummeli is best known for the TV2 sketch series of the same name (1991-2004) and successful comedy films.

Kummeli was born in the spring of 1991, as an idea from Heikki Silvennoinen and Olli Keskinen. Timo Kahilainen was also a member of the Kummeli group from the beginning. The sketches were directed by Matti Grönberg. By the end of 1992, Heikki Hela had also joined the group. The television series consisted of short sketches, often with a musical focus, in which the same characters usually appeared from one episode to the next, with no real continuity of plot between episodes.

In 1994, Kummeli was at the height of its popularity, reaching over 900 000 viewers at its peak. The cast of Kummeli are also musicians, and in the summer the group released a platinum-selling album Artisti maksaa. That same year, Europa Vision released eight sales videos featuring episodes from the first seasons of Kummeli from 1991 to 1993. Kummeli was also the first TV series to be released as a video by Yle.

In early 1995 Olli Keskinen resigned from the Kummeli group. The first Kummeli movie, Kummeli Stories, featured mostly the same sketches and characters as the TV series. It was written by Heikki Vihinen, who had joined the Kummeli group.

In 1996, the group made the humorous police series Muscles and Bullets.

In 1997, the traditional Kummeli was shown on TV and the film Kummeli Goldrush was premiered. It was the most-watched domestic film of the year, in which Elmeri Hautamäki, a patient in a mental hospital, sets off with his nurse Janne-Petteri Broman on a run away journey from the asylum to search for the treasure of his father, Kyrpä-Jooseppi, in Lapland.

In 1998, the group made the humorous medical series Doctors on Fire.

In 1999-2000 Olli Keskinen had returned to the group and Kummeli was performed in a new form in front of a studio audience. The group then made the humour series Mankeli (2000-2001) and Jurismia! (2002).

Between 2003 and 2004, six new episodes of Kummeli were broadcast, followed by the release of Kummeli DVD box sets.

In 2005 was the release of the Best A-Team box set, which includes all the Kummelis.

2007-2008 saw the release of the so-called Vanaja DVD trilogy: Muscles and Bullets (2007), Kummeli – Doctors on Fire (2007), Kummeli – Jurismia! (2008).

The third Kummeli film, Kummeli Jackpot was the second highest-grossing domestic film in 2006, after Matti – Hell is for heroes. The main roles were played by the core members of Kummeli group Heikki Silvennoinen, Timo Kahilainen, Heikki Hela and Heikki Vihinen.

The main actors are all also musicians

The main actors in Kummeli Subtenant are Heikki Silvennoinen, Mikko Kivinen, Timo Kahilainen and Heikki Hela.

Finnish longtime blues guitarist and singer Heikki Johannes Silvennoinen (born 27 April 1954, Kiviapaja) has done extensive day job as both a musician and an actor. From the early 1970s and 1980s, he is remembered as the guitarist and songwriter of several legendary bands. Silvennoinen also co-founded the first major English blues-rock band in the late 1980s, Q. Stone, which was also noted outside the borders of Finland. At the same time, Silvennoinen, who had a strong solo career of his own, was a core member of the SF-Blues project, which was founded in 2002. Silvennoinen came to the attention of the general public with the Kummeli programme in the early 1990s, where he wrote sketches and made music in addition to acting. However, Heikki Silvennoinen's main activity is as a musician – as a guitarist, composer and producer.

Musician and actor Heikki Hela (b. 1964, Aitolahti) is a teacher by his education. He was awarded the Male Soloist of the Year in 1994 for his debut album Kaikista kaikkein. As an actor, he won the Jussi Award in 2002 for his role in Kahlekuningas. He was also nominated for the 1998 Best Supporting Actor award for Kummeli Goldrush.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT ABOUT THE FILM
Matti Grönberg wants to emphasise the film's tolerance and humanist message.

The play Subtenant, written by Heikki Vihinen and Timo Kahilainen, has been running at Tampere Theatre for five years now. It's a fast-paced farce that Timo and Heikki have adapted into a Kummeli-like movie version.

The film has a number of new scenes. Lauri and Pauli's apartment plays a central role in both the play and the film, but in addition to the apartment, new scenes have been written for Lauri and Pauli's workplaces, John Molotov's rubber roll company, Robban's Sisätilapojat's address, Bengt "Pena" Palmberg's mansion and the streets and squares of Helsinki.

The film version features two actors who play the same role in both the play and the film. Ritva Jalonen is Lauri's ex-wife Marketta, Tuija Ernamo is Aunt Lydia, as in the play. Heikki Hela is Carl-Robert Christian Palmberg in the play version, aka Robban, but in the film he plays the role of the kidney patient Sergeant Major Molotov. All the other roles of Subtenant have been recast.

A few new roles have also been added to the film version. Aunt Lydia's maid is Inkeri Sortavala. Robban's ex-lover, handsome Alvaro mixes things up. Bengt "Pena" Palmberg and his butler shed light on Robban's past. Taneli Mäkelä, Leea Klemola and Jukka Rasila and his TV crew also appear on screen in small supporting roles.

From the director's point of view, the biggest challenge was to tell this hilarious story as a stand-alone piece of filmmaking, without the feeling that it was a cheap screen copy of a successful play. The first step in this direction was, of course, to transform the play script into a workable film script. Timo Kahilainen and Heikki Vihinen succeeded admirably in this task, the script is multi-level, rich, fast-paced and remarkably visual. The film differs in a few essential points from past Kummeli productions. There is almost no low-style expressions, no loose jokes or sketches, and the story is an intact and coherent whole. The excessive use of beards and wigs is kept to a minimum.

Kummeli's warm and perceptive portrayal of people is intact, as is the insightful and snappy dialogue. In the film version, the kidney surgeon Lauri Mustonen, played by Mikko Kivinen, is clearly elevated to the main role. The story is told from his point of view, from his inner transformation from a fossil stuck in his own habits to a tolerant fellow human being.

Mikko Kivinen's interpretation of the role of Lauri is genuine and understatedly natural, it is easy to identify with his difficult situation and his difficulties win the audience's sympathy. Pauli, played by Heikki Silvennoinen, Lauri's roommate, is a sensitive entomologist, but surprisingly adaptable to new challenges, thus a good counterpart to the conservative and one-dimensional Lauri. Together, Pauli and Lauri create a solid and credible basis for the film, on which it is safe to build the story's surprising twists and turns.

The film's villain is Sergeant Major John Molotov, played by Heikki Hela, whose witless bluster turns into a little boy's big talking, a Sergeant Major with zero social skills and health, a Sergeant Major who finds love and peace. Robban's Sisätilapojat form a gay group typical of the period, led by Robban, the brains of the gang, played by Timo Kahilainen. Heikki Vihinen plays Macce, a big, beautiful soul. Rafu is Risto Korhonen, who has all the clichés of a gay man. Kikke aka Jasper Pääkkönen is the so-called normal one. The scenes of this foursome have dance-like and very photogenic elements.

Subtenant film is not as farcical as the play version, the film is fast-paced and the scenes are short, but the whole is closer to a comedy. The actors' expressions have been scaled down a fair amount compared to the play. Kummeli Subtenant is a film for the whole family and will reach not only old fans of Kummeli, but also a whole new group of viewers. The film is guided by a message of humane tolerance.

Yours sincerely,
Matti Grönberg
director

ROLES INCLUDE:
Pauli – Heikki Silvennoinen
Lauri – Mikko Kivinen
Robban – Timo Kahilainen
John Molotov – Heikki Hela
Lydia Molotova – Tuija Ernamo
Inkeri Sortavala – Mari Turunen
Marketta – Ritva Jalonen
Hirvonen – Jussi Lampi
Pena – Oiva Lohtander
Macce – Heikki Vihinen
Rafu – Risto Korhonen
Kikke – Jasper Pääkkönen
Rautiainen – Leea Klemola
Night guard – Juha Veijonen
Butler – Auvo Vihro
Host – Jukka Rasila
Man at the gas station – Taneli Mäkelä
John 5 yrs – Riku Ustinov

PREMIERE IN FINLAND
12.9.2008

DIRECTOR
Matti Grönberg

PRODUCERS
Markus Selin and Jukka Helle / Solar Films

SCRIPT
Timo Kahilainen and Heikki Vihinen

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jari Mutikainen

SET DESIGN
Sattva-Hanna Toiviainen

COSTUME DESIGN
Jaana Aro

MAKE-UP DESIGN
Hannele Herttua

SOUND
Seppo Vanhatalo

MUSIC
Kummelis

EDITOR
Kimmo Taavila

SHOOTING PERIOD
July-August 2007 and March 2008 (Tanzania)

TV RIGHTS
Yle / TV2

PRODUCTION BUDGET
1.3 million €

SUPPORT FROM FINNISH FILM FOUNDATION
280 000 €

MARKETING PARTNERS
Veikkaus and Hesburger

RATED FOR AGE
7+

colour / 35 mm / 1.85:1 / Dolby Digital / 104 min