Film about Ståhlberg abduction filmed in Czech Republic to secure funding

A Finnish film about the 1930 abduction of President Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg was filmed mostly in the Czech Republic to secure a large enough budget, Yle reports. The drama comedy will premiere in Finland in September.

Ståhlberg, Finland’s first president, was seized in Helsinki by right-wing radicals in 1930. The activists, inspired by the Lapua movement, drove the retired president and his wife, Ester, across the country to Joensuu near the eastern border.

The film uses authentic locations only in the scene where Ståhlberg is forced into a car in Kulosaari, Helsinki. No scenes were filmed in Joensuu or elsewhere along the route through eastern Finland.

The production is a four-country co-production involving Finland, the Czech Republic, Estonia and the Netherlands. Director Samuli Valkama said the film’s budget made the international arrangement necessary.

“Making an action period film costs quite a lot. We had to raise a sufficiently large budget, and that was possible with the help of the co-producing countries,” Valkama said, according to Yle.

Joensuu was considered as a filming location, and the crew studied archival photographs of the city. Valkama said the production needed locations resembling the 1930s, but little of Joensuu’s wooden architecture from that period remains. He identified the city hall and the former lyceum, now an art museum, as notable old buildings in the centre.

The director said locations found in the Czech Republic looked quite similar to Finland. Recreating Joensuu’s market square for night shoots would also have been difficult because the area has changed considerably since the 1930s.

Valkama described the film as fast-paced, humorous and tightly structured, with the main events taking place over about a day and a half. He said the absurdity of the abduction itself helped determine the comedic style, as did the kidnappers’ poor preparation for the long drive, including running out of food.

Jussi Vatanen plays Eero Kuussaari, who organised the abduction. The cast also includes Elias Salonen, Aku Sipola, Riitta Havukainen and Pertti Sveholm as Ståhlberg.

Vatanen called the role a dream part because of his interest in history. He said the film gives Kuussaari more personal than political motives, making the character easier for modern audiences to understand.

Vatanen also sees parallels between the extremist movements of the 1920s and 1930s and today’s aggressive social media debate. The film’s comedy format, he said, allows the story to use imagination rather than requiring every detail to be treated as a documentary.