The Novelist

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Drama, Romance

By any standard, Kalle Päätalo qualifies as one of the two or three most successful authors in Finnish history. A gentleman responsible for over 39 novels and numerous additional books, Päätalo is best known for the Iijoki cycle - a 26-volume (!) series of autobiographical novels at the heart of his bibliography.

Several of these novels received feature-length screen adaptations in the late 20th century, including The Lead Raftsman of Life (1986) and The Lumbercamps of My Youth (1988). Whereas these features dramatized earlier portions of Päätalo's life (specifically, his pre-war youth), the eponymous Päätalo hones in on the period of 1951-57 - the period that witnessed him evolving into the four-barreled belletrist that he eventually became.

The arc of the tale sees Päätalo moving from his rural home of Taivalkoski to the Finnish industrial metropolis of Tampere, where his ambitions and accomplishments fully flower and the direction of his life crystallizes in a series of majestic, self-defining moments.

Kai Lehtinen stars as the author, inheriting the role from Teuvo and Tapio Remes and Ari-Kyosti Seppo (who played Kalle in prior installments). Hannu Kahakorpi directs.