People in the Summer Night

The story takes place over a single summer night in a small country community. Across the light filled Finnish summer night several lives touch one another. Lumberjacks, a family of poor farmers, a young girl and her lover are all inside the account. In that same night a child is born and a person dies. A man is also killed in the middle of his life, and the wife he leaves goes on with hers. Quarrels fuelled by drink are part of the night as well. The film sets its events side by side rather than tying them together. A portrait of a community fitted inside one night is the real form. The story is adapted from a novel. Eila Pehkonen and Martti Katajisto appear in Valentin Vaala’s sixty six minute Finnish film, completed in 1948.