Cultural and Ideological Themes in the Film Sampo (1958)

Abstract

The article studies the history of the creation of the Soviet-Finnish co-production film Sampo (1958), which is an adaptation of the Karelian-Finnish epic Kalevala. The film was the first joint cinematographic project of Finland and the Soviet Union; moreover, it was an example of cooperation between the film-makers of two countries belonging to different ideologies and economies — capitalism and socialism. The author analyzes the history of Sampo’s creation in the context of those ideological tasks that Finland and the USSR tried to tackle by means of cinema. For the USSR, this was a politically important step that demonstrated to both Soviet citizens and the whole world that peaceful coexistence between capitalism and socialism was possible and beneficial for both countries. The article also explores other important themes such as the participation of Otto V. Kuusinen, a major political figure and researcher of Kalevala, in advising the film and influencing the concept of the project, and the cooperation of the Sovexportfilm and Suomi-Filmi companies. The author concludes that Sampo played an important role in promoting a positive image of Finland, its culture, historical heritage, and the Finnish nation for both the USSR and the Finnish film audience.

Keywords

• kalevala
• sampo
• films of finland
• ptushko
• kuusinen
• sovexportfilm
• suomi-filmi