Jäniksen vuosi (1977)

Director:

Risto Jarva

Writers:

Risto Jarva (writer)
Kullervo Kukkasjärvi (writer)

Release Date:

23 December 1977 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Young advertising executive Vatanen suddenly quits his job and his whole life in Helsinki, and decides to spend a while in the Finnish wilderness...

Plot Keywords:

Lapland | Wilderness | Advertising | Forest | Animal In Title

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Antti Litja	...	Kaarlo Vatanen
Kauko Helovirta	...	Desk Sergeant
Markku Huhtamo	...	Taxi Driver
Paavo Hukkinen	...	Taxi Driver in Heinola
Juha Kandolin	...	Photographer Miettinen
Kosti Klemelä	...	U. Kärkkäinen
Anna-Maija Kokkinen	...	Lawer Leila Heikkinen
Martti Kuningas	...	Hannikainen, former rural police chief
Ahti Kuoppala	...	Kaartinen
Hannele Lanu	...	Kiosk Vendor
Hannu Lauri	...	Advertising Manager Huhtinen
Heikki Nousiainen	...	Tourist guide Toropainen, "Mr. Toro"
Esa Pakarinen	...	Police Officer #2 (as Esa Pakarinen Jr.)
Martti Pennanen	...	Hunter #1
Tuija Piepponen	...	Irja (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Harens år (Finland: Swedish title)
The Year of the Hare (International: English title) (informal literal title)
A nyúl éve (Hungary) [hu]
Das Jahr des Hasen (West Germany) [de]
God zaitsa (Soviet Union: Russian title) [ru]
L'année du lièvre (France) [fr]
L'anno del coniglio (Italy) [it]
O Ano do coelho (Portugal) [pt]
Zajeczy rok (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

Finland

Language:

Finnish | English

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Helsinki, Finland

Company:

Filminor

Trivia:

1,770,000 viewers in it's first TV screening.

Quotes:

Photographer Miettinen: I lost my pal in the woods.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Matka suomalaiseen elokuvaan: Maaseudun lumoissa (#1.5)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Kauppaopiston naiset

All Jarva's films are worth of seeing.

All Risto Jarva's films are worth of seeing. Some like "Jäniksen vuosi" and "Loma" are best films in their genre and have reached a status of a classics in Finnish cinema-history.

Most people have formed a impression of actor Antti Litja through Jarva's films. Litja acted leading role in three of Jarva's films which all became successes at box office and movie reviews.

It's nice to see that idea of "Jäniksen Vuosi" still lives in commercials (I think it was tele-operator Sonera's TV add where Litja was walking in mountain fell at Lapland with hare in his arms. Everibody who has seen the film knows what I am talking about..) "Jäniksen Vuosi" Is a beautiful film with great actors and good filming locations - like famous small town in Lappland, Sodankylä, where the best Film festival in the world is held - The Midnight Sun Film Festival. I recommend it for all to go there on June - but remember warm clothes and raincoat :)