Pekka ja Pätkä
Encyclopedia
Pekka and Pätkä is the name of several comedy films produced by Suomen Filmiteollisuus
in the 1950s in Finland
, based on the popular Finnish comic characters Pekka Puupää
(played by Esa Pakarinen) and Pätkä (Masa Niemi
), who can be said to be the Finnish version of Stan and Ollie. The director of the first movie was Ville Salminen and the rest of the movies are directed by Armand Lohikoski
, except for the last one which was directed by Aarne Tarkas based on the comic books. Screenplays were written mostly by Reino Helismaa
.
Pekka Puupää is a tall and lanky man who lives in Helsinki
with his strict and controlling wife Justiina (played by Siiri Angerkoski
). He is a very kind man but probably not the sharpest knife in the drawer. In addition to his height, his most recognizable feature is the daisy attached to his hat. His name could be translated as "Peter Blockhead". In the films he speaks with a distinct Savo dialect
which adds hilarity to his character.
Pekka's best friend Pätkä is a short and stocky man, whose past is not known. He knows many saying
s and usually utters them whenever he has the chance to do so. He is the more intelligent member of the pair.
Several incidents, particularly the less-than-believable snowman costume from the 1954 film were some of the things that Lohikoski was never proud of. Also the alcoholic tendencies of Masa Niemi caused problems when he refused to come to shootings. The film series eventually ended after Niemi committed suicide.
Also potentially racist depictions of blacks and Arabs have also caught the eyes of contemporary critics, though it could be argued that the Arabs from the 1958 film were depicted as required. However the final 1960 film Pekka and Pätkä as Negroes has received much criticism due to its title. Many however feel that the criticism is harsh, due to the term being quite neutral in Finnish language at the time, and the theme of the main-characters posing as blacks only takes up a small portion of the actual film. It is perhaps notable that Pikkarainen calls the pair "cannibals", but again this is a very brief and unimportant part of the film which (as usual) turns against Pikkarainen at the end.
Another more plainly offensive scene was from a dream-sequence in one of the films in which Pekka and Pätkä are bathing in a pot, surrounded by African natives, oblivious to the fact that they are being cooked alive.
Tributes:
The 1958 film On Suez is a strict sequel to As Frogmen, continuing where the last movie left off. This is the only sign of consistent continuity in the series, apart from random mentions of events in previous films.
Suomen Filmiteollisuus
Suomen Filmiteollisuus , lit. Finland's Film Industry, is a Finnish film production company founded by Erkki Karu in 1933 after financial problems with Suomi-Filmi. The CEO, director, producer and writer T.J. Särkkä was a central figure in Suomen Filmiteollisuus. Among others, the film director...
in the 1950s in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, based on the popular Finnish comic characters Pekka Puupää
Pekka Puupää
Pekka Puupää is a Finnish comic and film character, created by Ola "Fogeli" Fogelberg. The character appeared 1925–1975 in the popular comic Pekka Puupää and 1952–1960 in thirteen films produced by Suomen Filmiteollisuus...
(played by Esa Pakarinen) and Pätkä (Masa Niemi
Masa Niemi
Martti "Masa" Elis Niemi was a Finnish actor. Niemi started his career as a drummer, but became popular as a comedian. He is most famous for his role as "Pätkä" in all thirteen original Pekka ja Pätkä movies.- Life :Niemi was born in Viipuri. His films include Majuri maantieltä...
), who can be said to be the Finnish version of Stan and Ollie. The director of the first movie was Ville Salminen and the rest of the movies are directed by Armand Lohikoski
Armand Lohikoski
Armand Lohikoski was a Finnish movie director and writer. He is best known as a director of a number of Pekka ja Pätkä movies.-Career:...
, except for the last one which was directed by Aarne Tarkas based on the comic books. Screenplays were written mostly by Reino Helismaa
Reino Helismaa
Reino Vihtori "Repe" Helismaa was a Finnish singer-songwriter, musician and scriptwriter, mainly known for his humorous, yet homely songs. One of his best-known interpreters was Tapio Rautavaara.-Works:...
.
Pekka Puupää is a tall and lanky man who lives in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
with his strict and controlling wife Justiina (played by Siiri Angerkoski
Siiri Angerkoski
Siiri Saimi Angerkoski was a Finnish actress best known for her role as Justiina Puupää in Pekka & Pätkä....
). He is a very kind man but probably not the sharpest knife in the drawer. In addition to his height, his most recognizable feature is the daisy attached to his hat. His name could be translated as "Peter Blockhead". In the films he speaks with a distinct Savo dialect
Savo Finnish
The Savonian dialects are forms of Finnish language spoken in Savonia and other parts of Eastern Finland. It belongs to the eastern Finnish dialects and it is divided to more specific dialect groups....
which adds hilarity to his character.
Pekka's best friend Pätkä is a short and stocky man, whose past is not known. He knows many saying
Saying
A saying is something that is said, notable in one respect or another, to be "a pithy expression of wisdom or truth."There are a number of specific types of saying:...
s and usually utters them whenever he has the chance to do so. He is the more intelligent member of the pair.
Popularity and criticism
Though the films are very much beloved by Finnish audiences (and receive regular airings on the YLE) the overall quality of the series has often been put to question. In interviews Armand Lohikoski also noted that filming the comedies was far from easy and he feels that the overall quality of the films did suffer because they were made with a low budget and often with volume only in mind. Understandably the films have never been popular with critics.Several incidents, particularly the less-than-believable snowman costume from the 1954 film were some of the things that Lohikoski was never proud of. Also the alcoholic tendencies of Masa Niemi caused problems when he refused to come to shootings. The film series eventually ended after Niemi committed suicide.
Also potentially racist depictions of blacks and Arabs have also caught the eyes of contemporary critics, though it could be argued that the Arabs from the 1958 film were depicted as required. However the final 1960 film Pekka and Pätkä as Negroes has received much criticism due to its title. Many however feel that the criticism is harsh, due to the term being quite neutral in Finnish language at the time, and the theme of the main-characters posing as blacks only takes up a small portion of the actual film. It is perhaps notable that Pikkarainen calls the pair "cannibals", but again this is a very brief and unimportant part of the film which (as usual) turns against Pikkarainen at the end.
Another more plainly offensive scene was from a dream-sequence in one of the films in which Pekka and Pätkä are bathing in a pot, surrounded by African natives, oblivious to the fact that they are being cooked alive.
List of movies
Original films:- Pekka Puupää (1953)
- Pekka Puupää kesälaitumilla (Pekka and Pätkä on a summer holiday) (1953)
- Pekka ja Pätkä lumimiehen jäljillä (Tracing the snowman) (1954)
- Kiinni on ja pysyy eli Pekan ja Pätkän uudet seikkailut (Fixed and last aka the new adventures of Pekka and Pätkä) (1955)
- Pekka ja Pätkä pahassa pulassa (In big trouble) (1955)
- Pekka ja Pätkä puistotäteinä (As playground supervisors) (1955)
- Pekka ja Pätkä salapoliiseina (As private eyes) (1957)
- Pekka ja Pätkä ketjukolarissa (In a pile-up) (1957)
- Pekka ja Pätkä sammakkomiehinä (As frogmen) (1957)
- Pekka ja Pätkä SuezillaPekka ja Pätkä SuezillaPekka ja Pätkä Suezilla is a 1958 Finnish comedy directed by Armand Lohikoski and starring Esa Pakarinen and Masa Niemi...
(On Suez) (1958) - Pekka ja Pätkä miljonääreinä (As millionaires) (1958)
- Pekka ja Pätkä mestarimaalareina (As master painters) (1959)
- Pekka ja Pätkä neekereinä (As negroes) (1960)
Tributes:
- Pekka & Pätkä ja tuplajättipotti (Double jackpot) (1985)
- Pekka Puupää poliisina (As policemen) (1986)
- Pekka ja Pätkä levottomina (Being restless) (in production http://www.iltasanomat.fi/arkisto/uutinen.asp?folder=%2FUutiset%2FKotimaa&pvm=1%2E7%2E2005&id=1016612)
The 1958 film On Suez is a strict sequel to As Frogmen, continuing where the last movie left off. This is the only sign of consistent continuity in the series, apart from random mentions of events in previous films.