Television | Rintamäkeläites shows how the Finns argued – And then they sat down for coffee

Before everything was better. There was a unified culture and people had good will. Or did it just go that way? It’s interesting to look at the claim, having already reached the status of a classic Rintamkeli peopleseries (1972–1978). It dates back to the Finnish countryside of the 1970s, a time and place when people shared common ideals and values.

Reino Lahtinen however, the series that he wrote, which strives for rural realism in the midst of solid restructuring, gives a different picture of the matter. Rintamkeli people there is a constant battle of wills, where different views always clash.

Series the main characters are Rintamäki’s Antti (Veijo Pasanen) and his wife Leena (Cricket Grove) and their neighbor Veikko (Ahti Haljala) and Helmi Honkonen (Eila Roine). Both families are small farmers and the men are old frontline veterans.

In each episode, the conflicts between groups representing different worlds of thought are visible. Usually it’s parents and children. For example, at the beginning of the series, a rift breaks out between Antti and his son Aarne due to disagreements related to farm management.

The generation gap will come In Rintamäkeläi out anyway. In one of the episodes, the old-fashioned Antti meets a young man who says that the Second World War is already a matter of Adam’s time.

Differences also arise between small farmers and large farms. The local magnate Lahtinen’s host (Reino Kalliolahti) is trying to claim both Rintamäki and Honkonen’s fields for himself, because he thinks they would have a better use for them.

Very however, the fiercest disagreements arise from politics. Forest worker Markkula (Kalevi Honkanen) communism is too much for many. Veikko is a Demarian in his ideology, while Antti is from Vennamo. Friends get along with each other, but political disputes arise with others.

The faithful host of Nieme (I have Sauré) thanks the community spirit of the village, which helped to build a new prayer room. But his understanding is no longer enough when Veikko proposes to build a workers’ house in the same spirit of workers. A united culture, yes.

But although Rintamäkelians the characters sometimes strongly disagree about things, they are always able to sit at the same coffee table. Coffee making is one of the most central functions of the series.

“Is there a swamp”, is already asked in the first episode.

Rintamäkeläites, Yle Areena.