As the Finnish film community woke up to the news of actor Tomi Alatalo sudden passing at just 44 years old, “The More Loving One” team is remembering the star.
“In the film, he plays a record company executive who signs the main couple. They’re aspiring musicians and get their first record deal with him. It’s a small role, but very important: a memorable, light, bouncy performance,” director Oskari Sipola told Variety.
Alatalo, best-known for his work in Cannes-awarded “Compartment No. 6” – which scored him a Jussi nomination for best supporting actor – will be next seen in Dome Karukoski’s “Hippo Love.”
“He definitely had the acting chops for bigger parts. He was already a giant of Finnish theater,” recalled Sipola. Anniina Leppänen, producing for Helsinki-filmi, called Alatalo “very charismatic and very talented.”
“It’s shocking. People are sharing their memories of Tomi and there’s a lot of peer support.”
Before the screening of “The More Loving One” at industry event Finnish Film Affair – the film premieres locally on Oct. 3 – Sipola added: “As we remember Tomi Alatalo’s work in film and theater, all over Finland, and in beloved titles such as ‘Compartment No. 6,’ it’s bittersweet to release this film, which has become one of the last things he worked on. We miss Tomi and we’ll honor his memory.”
Focusing on aspiring musicians Antti and Suvi (Pyry Kähkönen and singer Rita Behm), it follows them from their small town outside of Helsinki – where they fall in love – all the way to their first successes.
Kähönen has appeared in Miia Tervo’s “The Missile” and Netflix’s “Vikings: Valhalla,” while Behm makes her acting debut in the film. They are joined by Mimosa Willamo (“Sisu”).
“Antti already has a band but it’s not really going anywhere. He asks Suvi to be the lead singer and that’s when things start to pick up. The better their musical careers go, the worse off they are in their relationship,” said Sipola.
“A friend of mine called it a ‘Finnish love story.’ There are upbeat moments and then all this melancholy and reflection of life’s bigger choices.”
The story of Antti and Suvi mirrors “familiar duality many creative people struggle with,” he noted. “When you have two people working with the same art form, it can become toxic – you can no longer separate the love you have for the art form from the love you have for the person.”
The film debuts its trailer here:
Soon, it becomes obvious there’s only one star in the band, Suvi. As she turns into a global pop phenomenon, even Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey’s go-to producer Jack Antonoff’s gets a mention.
“The novel takes place in the 90s and name-dropped producers and music industry luminaries from that time. I wanted to add a contemporary nod to that aspect. If a rising female star would work with anyone in New York, it would be Mr. Antonoff!,” said Sipola.
Based on a book by Juha Itkonen – “I’m most stressed about the reactions of tens of thousands of people who love it. I’ve hidden my address” – it features original songs in English.
“Some of the lyrics come straight from the novel. They were singing in English and we just stuck with that. Itkonen also gave this story a psychological twist I really connected to. It says something about the Finnish psyche.”
Sipola – who has a musical “Urban Family” under his belt – ended up collaborating with composer and “musical maestro” Joel Melasniemi. “I started working on the music at the same time I started working on the script. Some of the songs are from 10 years ago – others from last year.”
“I got married, I got divorced, I’ve lived this story – and then I was ready to tell it.”
“The More Loving One” is not the only new Finnish release taking on music, with “A Light That Never Goes Out” and biopic “My Name Is Dingo” also belting out tunes. Selma Vilhunen’s “Happy Sassy Beautiful” about musician Kaija Koo, also spotlighted at FFA, will premiere in the spring.
“There’s clearly a need we’re trying to serve. We’re caught in a wave that’s picking up speed,” said Sipola. But the current funding situation might cut it short.
“The success of Finnish cinema in the early 2020s was not built on strategically and maybe it was lost among all the battles we were fighting: for our funding, for new legislation concerning copyrights. I think it can happen again, but if these cuts are as drastic as it’s now suggested, we’ll have to wait for another wave for a long time.”
He added: “I wholeheartedly agree that we need to hold onto the domestic audience. We need to have their support as an industry, but the only way to ‘renew’ ourselves is through international collaboration. It’s not a ‘safe’ thing to have a film where people are singing in English, singing new songs instead of those that people already know. These sorts of risks can fail, but sometimes they can succeed spectacularly.”
