Never Alone is the latest film by Klaus Härö, which had its world premiere at the Black Nights Film Festival this year. The film is set in Helsinki between 1938 and 1942 and deals with the deportation of eight Austrian-Jewish refugees by the Gestapo during World War II. The main character is Abraham Stiller (Ville Virtanen), a Jewish businessman who is a revered member of society. When some of his workers are targeted, he tries to do everything in his power to stop the process. The question is if he had overvalued said powers. Finland was not occupied by Germany at the time, unlike Norway, but there were still some officials who chose to accede to the Nazi’s demands.
The storyline primarily revolves around Stiller, who runs a tailor shop, and a young Austrian-Jewish couple, Georg and Janka Kollman (Rony Herman and Naemi Latzer). Stiller refuses to believe that Jews face a risk of being deported. “This is Finland, not Germany”, he says with the true conviction of someone who doesn’t believe that there is any danger ahead. Not even the altercations with the openly anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi director of the Finnish State Police seem to change his perception of what might happen. The story is told in flashbacks, seen from the perspective of an interview made by a young journalist in the seventies. Those scenes are in black and white, while the flashbacks are shot in muted colours.
Uncle Stiller is Never Alone
Never Alone is an adaptation of the book Uncle Stiller by Finnish journalist Rony Smolar. Apparently, it is the first time that the subject has been rendered cinematically. The producer, Ilkka Matila, referred to the director as a Finnish Spielberg. Even if it was mostly said as a joke, there are similarities between Härö’s style, which is highly classical and Hollywood films. That goes for some of the characterisations as well. The spectator is never in doubt of who is good and evil, with some of the acting verging on the cartoonish. The cinematography by Robert Nordström is often effective with several striking shots but occasionally underscores the drama a tad too much. Tambet Tasuja’s editing deserves praise as well.
As a possible antidote to underscoring, the film’s score was written by Swedish composer Matti Bye. While dramatic in parts, Bye’s considerable talent makes the score one of the film’s most appealing assets. The multi-awarded Bye has scored numerous important Swedish films, most notably Jan Troell‘s Everlasting Moments (2008). However, his introduction to the cinematic world was the music he composed for silent classic films. Visitors to the Stockholm Cinematheque will remember his scores for masterpieces by Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller, to name a few. The last name is particularly interesting since Abraham Stiller was the brother of the director of Erotikon (1920).
The film is a passion project for the director and producer alike. In many ways, it is the kind of film that one has seen countless times. Ville Virtanen is, literally, a towering presence, but the naivete of his all-too-good character might be seen as simplistic. On the other hand, Never Alone is handsomely mounted and does not outstay its welcome during its 85-minute duration. The Jewish question is, unfortunately, still topical, not least in Sweden, where several Jewish schools and kindergartens have found it necessary to equip their facilities with bullet-proof windows.
Never Alone (Ei koskaan yksin) had its world premiere in the Baltic Film Competition of the Black Nights Film Festival. It is a Finnish-Estonian co-production with Austria and Germany. The US premiere will occur during the Palm Springs Film Festival in January.
