6 - House styles

Summary

From the early 1930s on, when the relative dominance of Suomi-Filmi gave way to first two (Suomi-Filmi and Suomen Filmiteollisuus) and then three (Fennada) major production companies, an idiosyncratic house style became a necessary precondition for the success of a studio. Certainly, Suomi-Filmi had already determinedly constructed a company image in the 1920s, but with little competition there was not much need to differentiate its films from those of the rivals. More important was to stand out as a domestic company and create a distinctive style for domestic productions. This aspiration continued through the studio years and was shared with other Finnish production companies; after all, even in the most productive times, the domestic output remained only a small fraction of the whole supply of films. Yet, with other equally strong domestic rivals, the distinction strategy became a double strategy: on the one hand, it was a common interest of all domestic films to stand out as recognisably Finnish films with identifiable national characteristics; on the other hand, all studios attempted to do this in their own distinctive way and stand out not only among the foreign but also among the domestic competitors.

The differentiation process is already evident in the names of the production companies. In August 1940, the editorial of Suomi-Filmi’s journal Uutisaitta warned against the potential overproduction of domestic films should the importation of foreign productions become difficult because of the ongoing war:

If such false market conditions lead to the release of substandard films, there is a danger of the concept of the domestic film as such being condemned. Despite repeated efforts, the public has not yet learned to tell company logos apart. They are still randomly mixed up with one another, and are usually credited to Suomi-Filmi. This is because almost all domestic film producers have chosen names that resemble Suomi-Filmi as much as possible.

There is obvious bitterness in these words towards Suomi-Filmi’s main competitor, Suomen Filmiteollisuus. Indeed, when Erkki Karu, after his forced departure from Suomi-Filmi, launched his new company in 1933, he deliberately chose a name that resembled that of his old company. Suomen Filmiteollisuus (Finnish Film Industry) echoed Suomi-Filmi (Finland-Film), while it also alluded to the major Swedish production company Svensk Filmindustri (Swedish Film Industry).