Director Matti Ijäs has received many retrospectives and reruns, but one of his accomplishments has always remained highly obscure.
Children of the 1980s do remember it though, at least one of them does. First broadcast on Christmas Day, 1981, Kehvelit brought an original kind of magic into the middle of the festive season. Seen through the eyes of two scarecrows, the world appeared different.
The curious lead roles are played by Heikki Kinnunen and Sulevi Peltola – a duo, who from today’s perspective would not perhaps immediately be connected to each other.
In all its gritty croakiness, Kehvelit is a jaw-dropping testament to how rich in imagination and high in quality the production of children’s programmes at the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle) was in the 1970s and ‘80s. It reminds us, how adult themes can be conveyed to children without babbling. Kehvelit is a model example of a history that the official programme of Yle’s 100th anniversary year has no time for – Art Town corrects this state of affairs. (Lysti Manni)
Language: Finnish, no subtitles
In the presence of Heikki Kinnunen