In 1986, the Finnish action film “Scorchingly Icy” angered the Soviet Union – and was banned at the latter’s request.
“‘Scorchingly Icy’ is violent and might worsen our relations with foreign countries,” the Finnish film production control body Elokuvatarkastamo justified the decision.
Director Renny Harlin and producer Markus Selin were prepared for a high age limit to be set on their film, but the butt-licking censorship of the Soviet Union came as a surprise. Common sense had nothing to do with it,” Selin summed up his feelings at the time decades later.
The film, in which three American tourists travel to Lapland and for fun decide to cross the border into the Soviet Union, where they are arrested as spies and sent to a prison camp, was stuck in the Finnish censorship for a whole year – when it finally reached the screen following being cut, new winds had already begun to blow and it was time for Finnishization getting through.
A part of the retro program of this year’s Haapsalu horror and fantasy film festival is dedicated to just such Nordic genre films that have fallen into the clutches of censorship.
The screenings are accompanied by in-depth commentaries that reveal the background behind the making of the films.
Peep Ehasalu from the Finnish Institute talks regarding “scorchingly icy” as a curiosity of Finnishness and the post-war cultural relations between the Soviet Union and Finland.
By the way, across the ocean “Scorching Ice” is still one of the most widely distributed Finnish films – under the title “Born American” it was screened on more than a thousand screens at once in 1986. With a budget of 16.7 million marks, or five million euros in today’s currency, it was also the most expensive film in Finnish film history at the time of its production, even ahead of “The Unknown Soldier”. It also opened the door to Hollywood for Renny Harlin – now his films have earned more than a billion dollars worldwide.
Another Nordic film that will be screened in Haapsalu is Swedish director Bo Arne Vibenius’ grindhouse– that is, the lousy film “Thriller – Cruel Film”.
“With repeated elements of violence and sadism, therefore not suitable for viewing,” summed up the Swedish Censorship Committee in 1973. The film was only released at the end of 1974, when it had been shortened by as much as 26 minutes.
“Evil knows no bounds,” it was advertised in America under the headline “They Called Him One-Eyed.”
In the film, a young woman who is raped and forced into prostitution takes revenge on her harassers. “Unquestionably the crown jewel of sleazy movies, full of dirty sex and amoral brutality rolled into one exploitation-with the most shocking scene in movie history,” wrote genre film distributor and restorer Vinegar Syndrome of this restoration.
Quentin Tarantino has named this film as the model for his film “Kill Bill”.
Swedish film critic Charlotte Wiberg will introduce the film session in Haapsalu.
The Haapsalu horror and fantasy film festival will take place on 26-28 until April. The festival opens with the premiere of Sander Maran’s film “Chainsaws sang”. Tickets for the opening ceremony and the film, as well as festival passes, are on sale at a discounted price until March 31. The entire schedule will be announced and ticket sales will open on April 8.
2024-03-19 12:33:43
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