Six films shot in six months
Six feature-length Vares were shot in Turku in six months between April and October 2010. The first one premiered on 6 January 2011.
Solar Films , in collaboration with the City of Turku, Solar Films produced six new feature-length Vares based on Reijo Mäki's novels, which will be shown in cinemas in 2011-2012. After their theatrical release, the films will be released on DVD. The first DVD, The kiss of evil in late May 2011. The independent films will be made into a 12-part tv series for MTV3.
The Western Finland Film Commission (WFFC) under the Turku Region Development Centre coordinates the services provided to the Vares film series in Turku. The WFFC assisted the production company in recruiting talent and trainees, finding locations, arranging filming and many of the practical arrangements required for filming. WFFC has also facilitated the involvement of companies in Vares Solar Films also has marketing cooperation agreements with Laitila Wirvoitusjuomatwerke and Hesburger. Other marketing partners include the publisher of Vares Otava, telecoms operator Elisa, speaker manufacturer Amphion and car importer Delta.
Production details
DirectorsANDERS ENGSTRÖM, LAURI TÖRHÖNEN
ProducersMARKUS SELIN, JUKKA HELLE
Screenwriters KATARIINA SOURI, MIKA KARTTUNEN, ANDERS ENGSTRÖM
Production companySOLAR FILMS
DISTRIBUTION NORDISK FILM
Broadcasting tv MTV3
Filming April–October 2010
Standard roles in theVares
Jussi Vares - ANTTI REINI
Juhani Luusalmi - EPPU SALMINEN
Pastor Alanen - MATTI ONNISMAA
Pigeon Pack - JASPER PÄÄKKÖNEN
Editor Ruuhio - MIKKO LEPPILAMPI
Anna Huttunen - MARIA JÄRVENHELMI
Inspector Hautavainio - ILKKA HEISKANEN
Vares premieres
1. The kiss of evil
Directed by Anders Engström, premiere January 6, 2011
2. The girls of April
Directed by Lauri Törhönen, premiere April 20, 2011
3. GARTER SNAKE
directed by Lauri Törhönen, premiere 5.8.2011
4. The path of the righteous men
Directed by Anders Engström, premiere January 6, 2012
5. GAMBLING STAMP
directed by Lauri Törhönen, premiere 2012
6. THE TANGO OF DARKNESS
directed by Lauri Törhönen, premiere 2012
Profile:Private Investigator Jussi Valtteri Vares
Cinematography by Reijo Mäki Cinematography . More Reijo Mäki Vares and Reijo Mäki can be found on the author's website.
Born: on Midsummer Eve, in Merikarvia, at a rest stop on the Vaasa road, in the back of a Mercedes taxi with battery problems.
Horoscope: does not believe in horoscopes. When asked, Vares tells women that he is a rune bull in the Chinese horoscope.
Family relations: a confirmed bachelor. Next of kin is uncle Jussi Valtteri Vares from Siikka.
Education. Jussi Vares completed 11 credits in five years at Turku Law School. In the school of life's textbook, there are more entries.
Occupation: private detective. The downside of the profession is chronic lack of money. The upside is that you get to do good for people, sometimes even do good.
Hobbies: being outdoors indoors, the female psyche, the thrill of hockey and bad jokes. Vares doesn't dance, golf or group spin.
Feminine trait: High-heeled (both in money matters and in running shoes) and trusting (assumes Greenpeace is blue cheese, doesn't lie and doesn't tell Vares lies). The ideal woman would like Epu, Leevi & the Leavings and Charles Bukowski. You can be passionate, but don't squeeze too hard on the balls, it hurts.
Comfort food: wallflower dough.
Mind Drink: Rooster, Fireman's Day off.
The Mind Book: a series of books about Chief Nurse Gunilla (78 volumes). Only volume 47 "Gunilla and the Dark Surgeon" is missing from Varese. Vares is prepared to pay a fortune for this volume.
Safety tip: If you ever find yourself in a beer hall frequented by youngsters, never get between a rooster and a puppy.
Other profiles
The accompanying sketches were drawn freehand by screenwriter Mika Karttunen.
The characters in the film will take final shape through a collaboration between the director and the actors.
The characters in the film will take final shape through a collaboration between the director and the actors.
- a tiresome braggart
- chronically short of money
- a well-meaning disaster
- a cheerleader
- verbal firecracker
- intellectual (with a limp)
- Alanen corrects misquotes
- Luusalmi's new novel, Urban Yurt Music, is carried in Vares's breast pocket in the heated stages of The Kiss of Evil
- a priest ordained by a bishop, who managed to drink his way out of office in a couple of years.
- a wise man
- knows Turku and the people of Turku
- mysterious in his affairs with women
- sells pornography under the counter
- He's a money-grubber.
- uses literary references
-taxi driver
- pole dancer (doesn't like to be talked about)
- temperamental
- "good guy"
- independent
- quick-tempered
- sometimes unpredictable
- about 30 years old
- regional editor of Iltalehti
- trendy bachelor
- hunts gossip and scoops
- mutual efficiency with Vares
- fast-moving, social
- curious, "grabs" information
- cocktail party lion
- an experienced and qualified police officer
- A friend of Vares
- Vares' "rival"
- stressed
- workaholic
- probably divorced
- wears civilian clothes
- ex-venkula
- prison-phobic
- ex-drug addict
- once a retard, now clean
- doesn't tell things straight, but hints
- does odd jobs; harbourmaster, window cleaner, etc.
SIX BOOKS AS THE BASIS FOR A FILM SERIES
The kiss of evil
The city of Turku is sweltering in the heatwave of the century. Vares a boozy book launch party, but ends up acting as a guide for a Swedish tour group – with unpleasant consequences. The private investigator's love life is also in turmoil. Is Vares the trap of two women? The relatives of a female student found strangled hire Vares to investigate the case. Vares is not enthusiastic about the case, but he has to earn a living somehow. And eventually, the whole grim series of events begins to take shape.
Vares The path of the righteous men
A strange assignment takes Jussi Vares to a gloomy landscape. Annaliisa Vaara's body has been found at the edge of an old cemetery, and the local police have found no trace of the culprit. The small village of Kahdenvirranmaa is deeply religious. Preacher Taisto Raappana and Pastor Hukkanen have plenty of listeners. The arrival of Vareksen, a city boy, does not go unnoticed by the villagers – especially the women. But Vareksen has more important things to worry about: someone seems to want him dead.
Garter snake
On the sweaty nights of the hottest summer of the century, a distant man plays the piano in Turku, Finland. On Kakolanmäki, a betrayed, bitter prisoner stares over the rooftops at a city teeming with life. Revenge is alive, a top-flight killer soon ready like a fiery blaze. A client who turns up at Vares' detective agency suggests a confidential investigation. Despite the client's beautiful lady, Vares senses the stench of an old rat rat rat. At midnight, a gunshot rings out in Vartiovori. A life has been lived, and Vares finds his job changing. Investigations lead him to the city's discos and divas, the drug route through Stockholm and the fashionable gym in the city centre. Before long, Vares finds himself embroiled in a case where hot money and cool silk clash. And a cunning garter snake slithers in the background...
Gambling stamp
Jussi Vares falls in love with the mysterious dark beauty Sole Sulavete, but loses her in a horrible way. After a few weeks of courtship, Sole's body is found in a bird tower in Rijssalo. The murder investigation stalls until Vares mistakenly takes it upon himself to investigate the confusing denunciation letters received by a familiar journalistic expedition. Before the mystery of the letters is solved, one thing happens and another. Assassin Stahanov receives a strange assignment from Turku. And Solen's brother surprises his wife in an intimate situation with the wrong man and embarks on a desperate odyssey with a black collie in his bag.The trail leads to strangely familiar faces, and there are no new deaths. Eventually, however, the threads of the story become intertwined, and the noose tightens around the blow of all time.
The girls of April
Students Aino Aaltonen, Teresa Sundin, and Kikka Valasranta disappeared in Turku in April 1983. The case has become a mystery on par with Kyllikki Saari and Lake Bodom, and there are plenty of theories. Did the girls have an accident, were they murdered, or are they still alive? Vares on the case for journalist Ruuhio and finds new clues that lead to surprising and influential parties. All of Reijo Mäki's familiar characters are present in Huhtikuun tytöt, complemented by many delightful new additions. And the setting is firmly rooted in Turku.
The tango of darkness
Six years ago, tango king Harry Koivikko was found stabbed to death in a room at the Satuma boarding house. However, the nation's biggest manhunt fizzled out without success. Jussi Vareke gets a call from a journalist who has lost his way in life and says he knows who murdered Koivikko. Then the guy disappears without a trace. Vares is faced with the biggest challenge of his career. Plus, a dangerous old acquaintance, Veikko Silver, escapes the brick walls of Sörka for his first prison sentence...
Director's statement
Welcome to a new level of European entertainment! Director Anders Engström promises to make Varese's frayed world an export product.
The dark world created by Reijo Mäki has its roots firmly in Finnish society; in its archetypes and characteristics - but in an unexpected and black-sounding way. The always exciting plot, fast-paced action and fabulously diverse characters promise memorable moments in the cinema. Finn-crime is expected to be the next genre to break out in force from Scandinavia into Europe. Finn-crime is more gritty, more emotional, more edgy - and much more humorous than its Swedish counterpart.
You don't need to watch Fargo to be inspired. All you have to do is walk into any old Finnish tavern and be amazed at how far it is from there to the European continent. It's a completely different world. Vares do not apologise for being Finnish, Finnishness is their fuel.
This is the world: film noir Turku, the tough guys in the harbour, the deserted streets, the femme fatale, the melancholy bar where Vares and his friend, a priest and failed novelist, contemplate the way of the world amidst a vast amount of alcohol, filth and smoke.
Vares is a tough private detective looking for affection in his brutal world. He's not looking for someone from Cosmopolitan - he thinks all women are beautiful in their own way. He often melts in the company of women and is easily seduced by complex emotional games. His tender heart beats for a femme fatale and his hard fist thirsts for revenge on a bad man.
He is introverted and doesn't talk much, but he makes up for it with action in both his personal and professional life. The driving force behind Vares is the plot and the characters. They delve deep into the black heart of crime, love, suspense and friendship.
They are filmed with traditional craftsmanship and the highest European quality. The visual style is an update of the crime films of Don Siegel, a master of the genre, for the modern day. Cinematography the tension as the camera stalks its target like a sniper. Editor seamless Editor to European tastes in the same tradition as the Wallander and Irene Huss films, which I directed for Swedish, German, and British television.
The production preserves the originality of Finland with colours and scenes inspired by Clint Eastwood's director Henry Bumstead. The film features a rich variety of locations and landscapes. For example, we film in the Finnish archipelago, visible from both land and air. There is Old Turku with its magnificent rivers, cathedrals and universities. And to top it off, everything from tough shipyard workers to queens of the night in their leopard-print leotards, pink tops and heavy make-up.
Welcome to the world of Finn-crime - the next level of European entertainment!
ANDERS ENGSTRÖM
director
Anders Engström (born 1962 in Newcastle) is a Finnish-Swede who studied at the International Film School in London and has built an international career in Sweden and Germany. In Sweden he has directed popular and award-winning tv such as Wallander, Anna Holt and Irene Huss. In Germany, he directed the international thriller Error 2000 (1999), starring Jurgen Prochnow, Götz Otto and Desmond Lewelyn.
In Finland, Engström was awarded the State Prize for Cinematography tv Flaggstölden (1989). Since then, Engström has directed the Prix Italia-nominated series Småstadsberättelser (1994), produced by Jörn Donner, and the mini-series Isabella, starring Irina Björklund and Peter Franzén, for which he received the Venla Award for Best Director in 2007. Engström is married to director Betsy Ångerman-Engström and they have two children, William and Vanja.
SELECTED QUOTES FOR LOVERS OF THE VARES
Reijo Mäki's novels are verbal fireworks. Here are extracts from the books.
Vares tasted white wine. It was good, but that was all he could say. Instead, he could have commented on the waiter with adjectives: cheeky, arrogant, perhaps a little sour, but with a lingering, sucky aftertaste.
(Conductor of Death, p. 160)
"I'm not a very keen user of public services. It's the first time I've been to a branch library. Apparently they lend out whole books here, not just pages."
(The Yellow Widow, p. 241)
Vares wished them a good holiday and, lifting his collar, stepped out into the sleet. The stuff falling from the sky was not only the size of a footstool, but also the colour of a footstool. Probably the smell and taste would have matched.
(The Frozen Angel, p. 16)
With a sixty-mark pill, a leader could reach the upward slope of his youth, at least as many degrees as the HEX's galloping curve.
(The Yellow Widow p.260)
Jussi Vares , on the other hand, had always adhered strictly to his own firm policy that nowhere was a man more wrong than when he was sober on the dance floor. "Tough guys don´t dance."
(Tango of Darkness, p. 12)
Vares registered the man's suffering red eyes and the tiny droplets beading on his forehead. A moderate hangover, somewhere between a six and a seven on the free Richter scale.
(Tango of Darkness, p. 266)
Aaro Vartio's left collarbone snapped like a fragile icicle. The thick jobbar's miserable cry of agony raced through the dusty, deserted corridors of the factory building. Rising and falling voices wailed like the shivering of the wind in the deepest canyon of the arid desert.
(Tango of Darkness, p. 251)
Someone cursed their pregnancy, another boasted that they had almost had it last night, the only thing standing in the way was a woman's opinion and Finnish law.
(November is a black grave, p. 30)
"And I have to admit that the whole chalkboard from the beginning of the week is like a wet sponge. No writing. Tabula rasa. And life risa."
(Angels with you, p. 31)
Jussi Vares cautiously sniffed the stale aroma of the apartment.It was a wonder that Microsoft, the all-knowing company, hadn't yet found a way to install a ventilation window in Windows that every nerd craves.
(Taste of Mulla, p. 78)
"This is life. Today, a guy can feel like any kind of world champion in a worm game. But in the end, the worms always win. I mean always." - "There's an idea... there's an idea. I mean, the man's got levels of stuff like a kitchen sink."
(Taste of Mullet, p. 60)
Killing for money, that was just family planning, but like thirty years later. - "I do less damage than an abortion doctor", the guy had continued. At least I'll wait and see what kind of a prick that baby turns out to be and develops into before I scrape it off the streets and keep it from bothering other people."
(Taste of Mullan, p. 146)
The look in the man's tiny eyes was observant and appraising; it was like the light of a naked light bulb shining through the barn shutter into the autumn sleet.
(Tango of Darkness, p. 16)
Veko Silver poured his cup halfway through a cup of Piggy's coffee, which looked like Caspian Sea beach tea stained with crude oil. And it didn't taste much better.
(Tango of Darkness, p. 141)
Time-honoured Finnish tradition forbids a good Finnish man to pass a former army friend who is sitting at a tavern table without announcing himself, and preferably in a very cheery voice.
(The Yellow Widow, p. 61)
"The law of cause and effect." Reverend Alanen frowned. "Who was the wise man - I think it was Confucius himself - who once said that if you go to bed at night with an itchy anus, you will wake up in the morning with a sticky finger and a bad smell. It's as simple as that."
(Thirteenth Night, p. 93)
"For me, the overripe apple only fell when Jussi did his turn and disappeared into the sleet without a word." Alanen clenched his jaw tightly. "Damn it, like a herring fart on a Thursday night!"
(Genuine Fur, p. 195-196)
"The emergency is not like this. I always have my custom-made leather pajamas with me. And to this day it has served me perfectly. In all conditions."
(Thirteenth Night, p. 111)
"Nice shorts." The blonde, dressed in a yellowish dress with a handsome nose bridge and a very generous neckline, said as she saw the approaching men. "I know palm trees, but what are those colourful porpoises?" "I don't know, but I fear the worst. I'm going straight home now and look in the doctor's book at once."
(Tango of Darkness, pp. 110-111)
Huhtanen Apo's step is starting to be as short as a child's ruler. It doesn't see Christmas. He'd just be happy to get out. He's a bit of a wreck, too. Nasty and his ass spreads like a turd.
(Tango of Darkness, p. 178)
"Yeah. We were in the army at the same time. But they were such secret special missions that I'd rather not talk about it any more than that." "Sure. You were obviously spying on one of Stalin's channels together, weren't you?" "No, of course not. We spent the whole summer in a hidden coffin on the bank of the Onega River, reporting once a week by radio to the General Staff on the development of the potato harvest in Petrozavodsk..."
(Tango of Darkness, p. 126)
Miss Vaarala's breasts were of a medium size, defiantly curved, symmetrically perfect. Their tips rose like the playful muzzles of otter chicks racing in the cold autumn water.
(Angels with you, page 63)
Dekkarikritilija Reijo Juhani Mäki
Below, the author talks about himself in his own words. Next to it is a factual introduction by the publisher Otava. More on Reijo Mäki's homepage.
My birthplace is in the middle of the barren wastelands of northern Satakunta. As a primary school student in the 60s, there was little to stimulate you in those corners. The school library in Saarikoski village became a window to a wider world for me. Before going to school, I had decided to grow up to be either an international explorer or an adventurous prairie cowboy. But reading changed my mind. And by the age of about ten, I was determined to become a writer when I grew up.
A rigorous training course began, resulting in countless blue-lined notebooks full of stories about Indians, agents, secret passages or mysterious castles. All these booklets, however, always ended up - after a year or two - in the nest of the home sauna.
The self-criticism was relentless. After the final exams, it was time to go back to school. I ended up - semi-accidentally - in Turku, at the School of Economics. The future writer was not particularly interested in that field. I chose a combination of marketing and economics as my major. It was a combination of studies, known at the time in our school as play & song.
My studies interrupted my writing hobby, but more than that, it gave me the building blocks for my future career as a writer. Student life was lived to the full. It dominated a five-year period; with all the really fun and also the less fun side effects. I probably spent a fraction of my capacity on my studies during those years. Even with a wrinkle, the Master's degree came off. And at the same time - as a bonus - I already had some fairly authentic material for my future writing.
Then, after I graduated, I went through the army. There was undeniably something about the army that fascinated me. I was about to go to the UN in Lebanon, when by chance I found out about a vacancy for a banker in Pori.
This meant that a trip to the crisis areas to find written material was not undertaken. But instead I realised another dream. In my first year of banking, I started to write my first book in the evenings. It was called "Angel Dust" and came out in 1985. And what I had firmly decided to do at the age of ten had finally come true.
I worked in a bank for ten long years, and all the while I was writing books. After a modest start, the readership of my books slowly began to grow. In particular, the private detective character I created - Jussi Vares - began to attract more and more interested and loyal readers. Then, in 1993, when the recession was at its worst, I decided to take heart and leave the hard work of banking behind me altogether. I quit my job and became a freelance writer. And I can swear I will never forget that bright April day when I walked out of the bank for the last time and straight to Turku's market square. Despite the financial uncertainty, the feeling of freedom and independence was indeed unforgettable.
From that moment on, I have worked exclusively as a writer. In addition to suspense novels, I write magazine columns and short stories and all kinds of other writing. It is sometimes a lonely, tedious and even tiring job. But when you add it all up in the end, the rewarding moments always win out in the end. Even on the worst days, I keep telling myself: hey man, don't complain, always remember that you are in your dream job right now! And you would probably never have become a real prairie cowboy anyway.
Reijo Mäki
A master of business administration became a successful crime writer whose books have sold over a million copies.Reijo Mäki born on October 12, 1958, in Siikainen, Northern Satakunta. Mäki holds a Master's degree in Business Administration (Turku School of Economics, 1982). From 1983 to 1993, he worked in marketing at Postipankki while also writing. Mäki works as a freelance writer and lives in Turku.Reijo Mäki his first detective novel, Enkelipölyä (Angel Dust), in 1985, and since then he has published a book every year – around thirty works to date. Mäki's popularity has grown steadily, and his books have sold well over a million copies in Finland. Vares have also been a hit abroad. To date, the books have been published in German, Estonian, Swedish, Danish, and soon also in Norwegian. Aleksi Mäkelä two films based on Vares in the 2000s. Vares , based on the detective novel Keltainen leski (The Yellow Widow), Vares in July 2004 and was the most watched Finnish film of 2004. V2, based on the thriller Jäätynyt enkeli (The Frozen Angel), premiered in January 2007. The Linnateatteri theater in Turku has staged two Vares written by Satu Rasila at the Emma Theater in Naantali: Vares The girls of April 2008) and Vares the Youth Tango (2011). Vares was played by Kari-Pekka Toivonen and Jukka Rasila.
JALOVINA STORIES
Reijo Mäki's Jaloviina-inspired Vares
