What does it matter what language a person speaks in a movie? The issue has once again been raised in Finland when the re-debated film about Finnish-Swedish artist Helene Schjerfbeck has now had a bio premiere in the neighboring country.
Countless films are made about famous people in other languages, not least English, but that arouses much debate. But is there a difference when it comes to a minority group? This is the opinion of cultural journalist Annika Hällsten, who reported on the debate about the film about Helene Schjerfbeck for Hufvudstadsbladet.
- If Hitler speaks English then it is not so dangerous for everyone to know that he was German speaking. But when Helene Schjerfbeck speaks Finnish, it means that the Finnish-Swedish minority is once again invisible. This is a common problem for minorities around the world that they are invisible, Annika Hällsten told Culture News in autumn 2018, when the debate first started.
When it comes to important Finnish Swedes, most films about them are made in Finnish. The film about composer Jean Sibelius (2003) is an example. Finnish is the majority language in Finland, and although the country is bilingual, many Finnish Swedes feel that the position of the Swedes is getting worse and worse. In a recent survey of the Tankesmedjan agenda, 75 per cent of respondents considered that Sweden's position today is poor or very poor in Finland. Maybe the filmmakers' language skills can partly explain why the films often become Finnish-language?
But there is also an economic aspect, at least according to director Antti Jokinen behind the film about Schjerfbeck, it is easier to both finance and sell tickets to Finnish-language film in Finland. At the same time, other debaters believe that a Swedish-language film has greater potential to reach out in other Nordic countries. If that is true, it is difficult to say, according to the film institute in Stockholm, biographical films are not cashies, even when they are made about famous Swedes. How good would it be to sell a film about a Finnish artist to a Swedish cinema audience?
The answer may come with another upcoming biography, the one about the dear Tove Jansson. Admittedly, Tove Jansson is much more famous in Sweden than Helene Schjerfbeck, but it will nevertheless be interesting to see how the interest in the film looks here.
According to director Andrea Reuter, it is the largest and most expensive Finnish Swedish film production of all time. And for once, the Finnish Swedes can be pleased that a cultural personality's minority background is highlighted. Finnish Swedish Alma Pöysti has already played Tove Jansson at the Swedish theater in Helsinki, now she will be doing the role in the upcoming feature film. It remains to be seen whether the film will come to Sweden, and how well it will succeed commercially.