Originally published 1991 | ||
Similar Ukkosenjumalan poika, The Howling Miller, Onnellinen mies, The Forest of the Hanged F, The Year of the Hare | ||
Elämä lyhyt, Rytkönen pitkä ("Life short, Rytkönen long") is a 1991 Finnish novel by Arto Paasilinna, While farcical throughout, from the title's twist on the original saying onwards, it has a somewhat elegiac mood, with a constant undercurrent of tragedy leavened by humor. A film adaptation of the novel by Ere Kokkonen was released in 1996. The film features many well-known Finnish actors, including Santeri Kinnunen as Seppo Sorjonen and Liisa Roine as a waitress at the Hotel Tammer.
Plot
Seppo Sorjonen, a young cab driver/wage slave fed up with his lifestyle. Taavetti Rytkönen, an old retired war veteran, standing in the middle of a road with a thick wad of bills in his pocket, trying to remember who he is and how he got there. The two's meeting sparks off a leisurely, low-drama romp through Finland.