Fenno-Film presents
Ilmari Kianto's
THE RED LINE
Screenplay and direction:
Matti Kassila
No point going on now,
it's getting dark.
How are we going
to manage this winter?
We've got to!
How are we going to keep
our children alive?
You put them in this world,
so you have to feed them.
There are two stones
in a poor man's mill!
God's power
keeps them grinding!
They may grind,
but nothing comes out!
Look what it's done again!
Sake, clean the cradle
and throw that out.
Not with your bare hands!
Get a piece of wood!
Hurry up!
Vesteri, open that door!
All this smell in here!
Bring the bucket closer!
And another one
is wetting the floor...
Why don't you go to the outhouse?
Iita Linta Maria!
She wet the floor!
The pot is of no use!
There you are sitting
by the lake shore!
Topi, you clean that!
I haven't time to be everywhere!
Close that door,
my feet are freezing.
And the brats are just
another obstacle and chore!
A mill you say!
Nothing runs
in this place but bare asses!
Aren't you going
to cook any porridge?
- Cook it yourself!
- All right...
Where are the grits?
You go find some!
Look in your big keg.
- Right you are!
- You'll find some all right.
- Boys, bring a light!
- Topi, go on!
It's empty.
Good God!
Daddy, look at that!
See how it whirls around...
Have to go to the village.
We're even running low on bread.
Let father have some!
There you go.
The children can have some milk
when I go to the cow.
The cow!
Here you are.
Come and get it!
Move over now!
There, there!
Mother will give you some milk.
Come to mother.
Here's your milk.
- And how are things, Tobias?
- Just the usual worries.
Indeed, indeed!
What brings you here?
I just came to ask the priest
if anything has come from Helsinki.
Any charity for the poor?
Tobias,
I have told you before!
When people are in trouble,
they must come to church to pray.
God will grant your wish.
- Will He help for sure?
- Yes, if your faith is real!
I see.
Come all ye
whose sacks are empty...
I will grind you grain.
Free, no payment...
Me! Me, me!
Blessed are they who have faith.
Though they know not
what they shall receive.
Tobias, put your sack
under the chute!
Let it come down!
Enough, good Lord...
Enough!
God! What's in the sack?
It's God's mill
that grinds out the women too.
Dear friends in Christ!
Matrimony was instituted by God!
Now the two of you
hold your sack!
Bread... Give us bread...
Give us bread...bread...bread...
Damn it all!
My Lord, my Lord,
I didn't get any flour!
Damn it!
Topi,
why don't you go to the big bin?
- Where is that?
- It's over there.
This is empty!
Totally empty!
I told you: this is what
the poor man's mill is like.
Give me light!
In the Name of the Father,
the Son
and the Holy Ghost.
Topi, what's the matter?
Don't shout like that!
Don't kick around like that...
Are you asleep or what?
I wonder if he is well,
moaning and tossing about like that.
If he went and d*ed,
we'd be in real trouble.
He'll have to go and get grain.
And there aren't many potatoes left!
We ought to get something
for the children to wear.
And I'm in rags myself.
Not a blouse or a skirt in nine years.
What was Topi thinking
when we set up home?
He hasn't gotten me
one decent dress.
My wedding dress is in rags,
fit only for milking cows.
I wonder if I'll ever get
a new Sunday dress again.
Why should I have such thoughts?
It's a sin!
Take away the bad word
Take away the sin of vanity
Stupid preening, take away
Silks and velvets, take away
Like wind, blowing in vain
- Are you going or what?
- Must be on my way.
- Won't get there by nightfall.
- I'll stay the night at Selkoskylä.
Are you buying on credit?
The grain?
Don't know about credit.
Depends on
what I get for those birds.
You got something
saved up?
Ought to be enough to get
something for gruel without credit.
Where did you hide them?
In the old pothole.
No wonder the dog was nosing around.
How will you take them?
I'll take a dozen with me
and leave the rest for next time.
We went skiing!
Close the door!
- Going to the parsonage?
- Why would I?
They might have
some spinning for me.
- I'll stop by, then.
- Wait a moment!
Step aside.
Buy some red cretonne
for Iita Linta Maria.
- The one you saw at midsummer.
- I'll do that.
Where did
you get all this money?
That Russian peddler
paid for board and lodging.
That's a good cow
we've got.
- Come on, boys.
- Come and see Daddy off!
Will we have some coffee
at our place this Christmas?
Now, Riika!
Take care.
Keep the children from the fire!
Go inside and look through
the window to see Daddy leave.
- Keep well!
- Keep well!
This devilish system
must come to an end!
The poor must rise to defend
the interests and their rights!
The poor people in the country
must be ready at the elections.
They must elect representatives
who will help them.
The rich have finally been forced
to give poor people the vote.
The government
of our masters
must become
a government by the people.
Every poor man and woman
must learn about
the new electoral law!
They must learn the importance
of the red line drawn by the poor.
Dear friends and comrades!
That red line flows from
the lifeblood of the Finnish people.
As true as there is a God
and the masters have a master,
the red line will tear out
the vitals of
the people's oppressors!
That's the way it will be!
The red line will be drawn
in this village too this winter.
That's right!
We'll make our weight felt!
- Hello to you.
- Hello.
- Well, any news?
- Just about the same...
It's winter again.
I've brought greetings.
Thanks! The greetings of
poor folk come from the heart!
Have you come to get grain?
Well... I had to!
It's easy to see!
- Have some coffee.
- Thank you!
What book
were you reading from?
It was the newspaper
"Power of the People".
I'll give you some old issues.
No, our walls can make do
without any wallpaper.
Well, don't you live in a cave!
She is giving them
to you for you to read,
not for the roaches to eat...
They seem to be prophesying
the Last Judgment.
My blood stood still
when she read the words!
So even the squirrel-dog
is on the fox's trail.
- Don't forget to come to the meeting!
- What meeting?
So the message
hasn't reached you?
It's the meeting of
the Social Mocrats!
It's at merchant Visuliini's
place this evening at 7.
Is it the pastor or
the sheriff who is holding it?
- Not even the sexton dare come!
- Who is holding it then?
The tailor and me!
From the next March 15th,
things in this world
will take another turn.
You can draw a red line.
And so can Riika.
So that's the new law!
But maybe it is so that
Topi and Riika can't vote.
- Unless you paid last year's taxes?
- Not yet.
Then you won't
draw any red line!
But there's still time
to pay your taxes.
What with?
It's a rich man's law when
the poor have to pay before voting!
This winter we have to pay our taxes,
wherever the money is from.
Next winter we'll make the laws
and the poor won't pay any taxes!
That's the way!
I have money for the taxes,
but how will I get food?
The poor must eat acorns now,
so they can get bread later!
The dog is coming!
And Daddy!
Take it,
and put the pan on the fire.
Do you have coffee?
Enough for today and Christmas.
Kunilla sent it.
- Sent her regards.
- Thank you! And sugar?
- I bought a little.
- Thank you!
I was at a meeting.
The rich are going
to be dancing with rage.
In this country.
You see...
Well now... It was...
- Well, what?
- How can I put it?
- Come on. Out with it!
- Socioli...crazy...!
What kind of meeting
were you really at?
- It was at Visuliini's.
- Who held it?
- Kalle the tailor and Kunilla.
- The tailor, the cobbler!
Are you out of your wits?
I always got my wits about me!
Wouldn't know about you!
- Who else was there?
- Just ordinary people.
- Not even the sexton?
- No sexton!
No singing?
Kalle and Kunilla sang out
of a red psalm book!
- Is that so!
- Why should I lie about it?
Was it our
psalms they sang?
No, they weren't Lutheran ones.
They were different!
Dear Lord!
The Interenal was what
Kalle called those psalms!
It was a crazy idea
to hold a meeting like that.
Why did you get mixed up
in goings-on like that?
A new law is coming now,
so that even little people
can give a Red vote!
Where do such new ways of
doing things come from, then?
- It's from the Czar.
- Who told you?
- The cobbler and the tailor!
- A cobbler and a tailor!
- And what about that red line?
- The women can draw one too!
- You are lying!
- Go and find out for yourself!
I'm not going to
any heathens' meetings!
They'll be needing
you in March!
- Who will?
- Well, the Socialorat!
Tell me why women must go!
What's it good for?
Tailor Kalle said so
at the meeting!
Take the word to every cabin!
Especially to the lowliest ones.
Because everybody
in need must come
to vote for their spokesmen
and get rid of their misery.
Misery...
Is that what the tailor said?
Sounds very pretty, if you
remember it the way he said it!
Yes, I do!
- And other women are going?
- I hear they are!
Everybody will have a vote!
That is,
if they are twenty-four years old.
But in December,
I will be thirty-three!
You can still
draw the red line!
The tailor said so when
I pulled his sleeve and asked him!
The cobbler is a learned man...
But the tailor is even more learned
when it comes to the law!
The cobbler said we couldn't vote
because we hadn't paid our taxes.
But the tailor told me to get
a paper showing want-of-means.
I got it and our names
are on the voting rolls!
It's about time that justice was
shared out in this parish too.
They have been lording it and
gnawing the ribs of the poor.
I wonder if these forests
are really crown property.
I could clear some land
and sell the logs and tar!
Then a little man like me could
eat bread and not tree-bark.
And are all those churchmen
really put in authority by God?
Now, now!
Did you stop by the parsonage?
- I didn't dare.
- Good thing you didn't.
- I had a dream about it.
- What do women's dreams mean!
And I got something else
on credit than the cloth.
It stopped the pack from
cutting into my shoulders.
- Here!
- Who did you bring this for?
This checked stuff won't even
do for pants for the boys!
You can wear it when we go
to draw our red line in March.
And you can wear it
at other times too. Now I am a...
Don't try to say the word
when you don't know how.
Socialo...rate...
Now if the hub of this world
was only greased anew.
Then it would spin
at a different speed.
If only the law would protect
the poor man's back
and not just
the rich man's stomach.
I hear there are such fine houses
out there in the world
that the poor can't
even dream of them!
There they dine
on pork and syrup.
And eat out of shiny gilded bowls
with silver spoons.
And they drink fine wines!
The price of a glassful would keep
a poor man's family a whole week!
The womenfolk there have
fingers covered in gold rings.
And their breasts glitter
with sparkling gems.
Their price would support
all the people of this town!
The young ladies there bathe
in pure cream and full milk,
like gnats in a jug of clabber!
I wonder if that sort of living
might be coming to an end?
The rich buy women's flesh like
a logger buys American bacon!
With their riches they can
engage in all manner of debauchery.
The priests and the bishops
cannot raise a finger against it.
For the jingle of money
they will bless the sinner's body.
And send his spirit to Heaven
although it belongs in Hell!
At every bend in the path
the poor have been elbowed aside!
Just go to the landlord
and ask to loan a pound of flour.
He'll sneer and say he won't
for a bunch of peasant riff-raff.
You go and see the sheriff's man
and he'll say he hasn't the time.
The gentry have come
and the toddy is being drunk.
Or he's going out fishing
together with wife and sons.
But for farmers with ten cows
the sheriff's man is all smiles!
And invites them to
his house for some hot toddy.
But that about God not being
the true guardian of the poor...
That's something
my mind shies away from.
That a Lord as great as He
should be dragged from His throne.
I think a swindler is one thing,
he deserves to be thrown away,
but the Lord of Heaven
is another case!
A Lord like Him won't fall
at the hand of a cobbler's wife!
The Maker of Man has
the powers to stay in office.
But He should be told kindly
to start looking after the poor!
The lands and the goods of
the world should be redivided.
And the taxes and fees
no longer laid on the poor.
The parish should subsidize
the poor for their children.
A pharmacy should be built
in the center of every village!
And medicine should
be given free to the sick.
And the Crown should build
the bridges and highways.
And I'll also vote
for adequate railroads!
For a railroad to run past
my place and over the border.
Hey, busy-boots!
Are you coming or not?
When I get the sled mended!
What a great
Christmas we'll have!
Not a stitch of new clothing!
And where can the soap be?
Damn this life!
Living the life of a wet rag!
The food is running out
for man and beast alike.
The pig and sheep had better
be slaughtered by Twelfth Night.
Can't keep
them alive on twigs!
They're trying to eat
my fingers to the bone.
Topi, aren't you coming?
I'm hurrying!
Break a hole in the ice!
You've got the ice-pick!
- Pull steadily!
- I am pulling!
Hey, listen...
Come out of that smoke!
Couldn't we drink
the rest of the coffee tonight?
And what do we do tomorrow?
Eat snow?
But it's Christmas Eve.
And I have such a craving!
Right now, elsewhere in the world
they're stuffing themselves.
What is it now?
Why must we be so miserable
and want for everything?
There's not a single clean shirt
for the children after the sauna.
- Or for you, either.
- A dirty shirt is fine for me.
Riika, don't worry, this may be
the last time things are like this!
- The last time?
- I can see it!
You really believe that the world
will be turned on its head?
- Yes, I do!
- By that red line?
By that and by
socio... ah... socioracy!
Go and make the coffee!
What are you doing, Daddy?
Milling the coffee beans!
- Where did you get them?
- From the village cobbler.
- Where did the cobbler get it?
- From the storekeeper!
- Where did the storekeeper get it?
- A town far away!
- Is it sweet?
- It tastes bad.
- Let me taste some.
- Well then...
- Is it good?
- Bad!
- Only sugar is sweet!
- Yes it is.
Taste some!
- Christmas is coming.
- Where is it coming from?
- Is it coming on skis?
- Has it been here before?
Is it coming only after Ma and Pa
have drunk their coffee?
Er, well...
- Mom, look, sugar!
- Sugar?
I see.
Did you father give you that?
I should make some porridge!
They've got to fill their bellies.
But there isn't much
to put in the pot.
Now the Christmas candle
is burning in the parsonage.
And at the forester's
and at the sheriff's office.
Mother, why don't we
have a Christmas candle?
We haven't got any!
We could hang a spill
on one of the branches.
Oh Lord, those children!
One day we will have
a Christmas tree with candles!
Jysky is barking!
Bow wow, bow wow!
Quiet now!
Quiet down!
Who's there?
Just a Christian!
Oh, it's Simana!
Come inside
where it's warm!
Greetings to you all!
Hello to
everyone in the house!
- And hello to you, too!
- Hello!
Can you
put up a traveler?
Of course! And you're
just in time for the sauna.
Spasibo, my friend!
What a reception!
To a traveler, a bath is like gold!
The cobbler and his wife
send their regards!
They asked me
which way I was traveling.
I told I was
coming this way.
They sent you something.
I've got it in my pack.
There you go...
They're nice people.
They sent you a book.
And there's a meeting
they say you must go to!
- A meeting I must go to?
- You must!
What a reception for me!
A hot and steaming sauna.
A chance to stretch my aching bones,
my tortured torso...
Red-haired maiden,
blond-haired maiden,
tell me, will you,
tell me, will you,
when are the suitors
coming our way, coming our way?
Red-haired maiden,
blond-haired maiden,
tell me, will you,
tell me, will you
when are the suitors
coming our way, coming our way?
And now to the sauna!
C...I...T...
"Cit"?
Are they telling me to sit or what?
Listen...
My eyes can't read in this light!
"Citizen's Election Guide".
I should have guessed that
it would be about the Socialorat...
F...I...N...
I can't make
any word out of this!
The steam must have
gotten in my eyes!
The steam, is it?
Aren't married folk supposed to help
each other! What does it say?
Oh well...
"Finland, Grand Duchy
of the Russian Empire..."
"The country's parliament
represents all the people of Finland..."
So that's what it says!
Read on a bit more, will you?
"The Parliament
has a single chamber."
"It has two hundred
representatives."
Just one chamber!
Like the pastor's chicken house!
"The representatives can be
voted for by every Finnish citizen,
both men and women."
There,
now you've seen for yourself!
You can read more
when it's daylight.
Now do you believe me?
I guess I have to
believe the printed word!
Spasibo to the one
who heated the bath,
the one who brought the water,
the one who sealed the sauna,
the one who chopped the logs,
the one who lit the fire,
the one who threw in the wood!
Spasibo, thank you to everyone!
The steam is
sweet and good.
Is there still some hot water?
We can make some tea!
Now let's see what I have in my pack.
Everything that's nice.
There are things and
other things, buttons.
And cockroach poison.
And asafetida,
known as the devil's dung.
One man said I was
selling bad devil's dung.
I told him that the devil
ran short of food last year.
He only had
bread made of bark.
So how could
his dung be any good?
Well, indeed!
Drink your tea now!
It's good tea, drink it.
Drink!
There you go.
Now that the women
have the right to vote,
you can look after the house
while I go to the meetings.
Might be a good idea
if she went along.
She might help
to make things clear to me!
Riika's got as good a head
on her shoulders as I have.
Even the best brain gets rusty
if you lose touch with people.
We'll have to get Kaisa
to come and mind the house.
- Hello.
- Hello there.
So you're going to the meeting
of those raging people?
Give my regards to the tailor.
Tell him I believe in healing.
They all need to be bled!
It would take the pressure
off their brains!
That's what
Forsström's widow says.
She says arrogance can flow over,
even among Christians.
Then there's no cure except
bleeding and the Word of God.
Well, go on then.
And don't forget my tobacco!
- For making me mind your brats!
- I'll get you some.
That's the state
the world's in!
I don't mind if
the Sociocrates come to Finland.
They can divide the forest
and the land by a count of heads!
What are you saying?
So the word hasn't reached
your place yet?
Sure,
Topi has been talking about it.
But the name.
What is it really?
It's Socialistmocracy.
Some kind of foreign dialect.
Oh, foreign?
So that's why
Topi has trouble learning it.
Are you going to
the people's meeting?
There'll be enough people
there without me.
Though they tell me
the wives are going there too.
The Prince of Darkness
is on the prowl
to seize souls for
Satan's kingdom.
The Fiend
is on the prowl.
The Devil always finds
new wiles to trap the weak.
Beware of these new wiles!
Beware, I say,
of the evil spirit of these days!
That evil spirit which
is arriving in our parish.
Satan is the father
of that spirit!
Lord's Apostle Paul
commanded once
the evil spirit to leave him.
His words should be yours
when they tempt you
with this evil!
POOR PEOPLE'S MEETING HERE.
SPEAKER FROM THE PARTY.
Once we get the boat out,
we can pay a little visit there...
- Where did the speaker come from?
- From Helsinki.
Let us first sing
the International.
Not sure if all know it.
You know it, comrades!
Arise, you prisoners of starvation
Arise, you wretched of the earth
For justice thunders condemnation
A better world's in birth
No more tradition's chains will bind us
Arise, you slaves, no more in thrall!
The earth shall rise on new foundations
We have been naught, we shall be all!
'Tis the final conflict
Let each stand in his place
The International union
shall be the human race
'Tis the final conflict
Let each stand in his place
The International union
shall be the human race!
We want no condescending saviors
To rule us from their judgment hall
We workers ask not for their favors
Let us consult for all
To make the thief discharge his booty
To free the spirit from its cell
We must ourselves decide our duty
We must decide and do it well!
'Tis the final conflict
Let each stand in his place
The International union
shall be the human race
'Tis the final conflict
Let each stand in his place
The International union
shall be the human race!
Brothers and sisters in ideology!
Among you has arrived
an enemy of
the power of church and clergy,
of officialdom, of riches
and the power of the sword.
An enemy of all the devilish powers
you can imagine!
I am that enemy!
Look at me!
Listen to what I have to say!
I was sent here by the organized
proletariat party of Finland.
Not by any
secret g*ng of the rich!
Just laugh, you members
of the ruling class.
I don't know you
and have no wish to do so!
Listen to a true
social democrat
condemn and reveal
your evil intents!
I know your party has tried
to find sins to reveal in our party.
You have failed to do so!
These poor people have been
bowing and scraping before you!
Now it's our turn
to enter the battleground.
We have the power!
We will b*at down
the oppressors!
We fear not
their armed might!
Tremble,
you masters of deceit!
The people will condemn
your pillage and your butchery.
The day of vengeance is dawning
and justice is coming!
We demand humanity
and will get it
peacefully or by force!
Who ploughs the fields and
digs the ditches in this parish?
Who digs the wells
and toils in the dirt?
Who sleeps in the rain
under the open sky?
Who draws in the fishing nets
with frozen hands at the icy shore?
Who skis in
the blizzard and the dark?
Who roots out
the tree stumps?
Who hauls
the tar barrels
and rows for hundreds of miles
on a starvation wage?
Who keeps the officials,
the middle class and the idlers alive?
Who keeps the gluttons and
the drunkards in food and drink
and suffers from want?
Is it not the proletariat?
All those who toil!
Who in this parish
keeps the money going?
Who toils unwittingly
for the capitalists,
so that others
may enjoy themselves,
flaunt in finery
and live in lust?
Who in this parish launders the lace
that clothes the haughty?
Who shovels the dung?
Who harnesses the horses
for the rich?
Who rinses out the laundry
in a freezing hole in the ice?
Who scrubs the backsides of
the gentry in a hellish-hot sauna?
Is it not the poor?
The proletariat!
Or do you believe
God has ordained it so?
I have come to this parish
to bring you enlightenment.
The pastor in the church is lying
that slaves should be humble
and allows the masters
to revel at their will.
The pastor is lying!
We Social Democrats know
that Man was created free.
Everyone has
the right to bread,
to land, to comfort
and even to enjoyment!
Nobody was
created to kiss the rod!
Nobody was created to clear
the land with calloused hands
so that the bourgeoisie
could be idle,
dressed in broadcloth and velvet
and drinking sweet wines!
The God he preaches about
and commands you to bow
is a Golden Calf
invented by the capitalists!
The kind that's
told of in the Old Testament!
It will not serve as a God of the poor,
my brothers and sisters!
Religion is a holy matter.
But the poor must
give up the faith of the rich.
They must find the Kingdom of God
with their own strength!
We have been reared
like sheep in a pen!
We must learn to beware
of injustice and deceit!
No longer shall the lash of hunger
and sl*very cr*ck here!
The poor must snatch it, like a dog
snatches the stick it's beaten with.
Those fat-salaried folk who look down
on the working man and woman,
who flay
the worker's hide,
should know the vengeance
of the Living God...
Just a minute!
Just a minute,
Mr. Chairman.
I apologize...
But I must interrupt
the worthy chairman of this meeting.
I feel that every phrase of his
serves but to spoil a good cause.
His speech serves but to banish
what should never be banished.
I mean common sense.
True, I am a teacher
at the State Church here.
I understand why
our profession is under att*ck.
I admit there is a great deal
of reason in the att*cks...
I speak as a human being,
not as a salaried minister.
I don't belong to any party,
nor do I want to.
Good friends...
Think what will come of
people being incited to hatred!
For that is what
this agitator is doing.
He seems to think this is
the best way to make his point.
It could all be
explained quite calmly.
Discuss the election law
and social democracy peacefully.
Out, dammit!
I apologize once again
for disturbing your meeting.
But I want you all
to ponder in your hearts
which is more blissful:
hatred or love?
Vengeance or forgiveness?
Dispute or harmony?
The teacher
of mankind says:
He who takes up the sword,
shall perish by the sword.
I hope that social democracy
will take a different course,
not the course
described by your speaker.
From the bottom of my heart
I wish good fortune
to the cause of the poor!
But I cannot approve
hatred being whipped up.
Neither can
any true socialist.
For it is heathenish!
It will bring yet more suffering
to this suffering country,
whether you
believe it or not!
Did you see?
Did you hear?
Do you believe now?
That's what they're like!
They creep into every place.
They sniff every corner.
They have no shame,
no sense of honor!
They wish to seal up
the people's mouths and nostrils.
But if one of us tugs at their hems
when they are in the pulpit,
off to jail with him
on the spot!
That priest's apprentice
sat here like a gendarme,
prying and spying,
the provocateur, the informant!
But he did not dare speak long
nor argue about God!
He dared not to stay
till the end of the meeting.
He left when it got so hot
that it b*rned his backside!
I let him speak on purpose
to dry his gall!
Dear comrades,
brothers and sisters!
Fear nothing!
If you'd have more
newspapers to read,
you'd know the tide
of democracy is rising.
The crown officials and
the saber-bearing police
do not break up meetings here
the way they do in Russia!
The proletariat
has freedom of speech now!
And the poor people
can speak their mind!
And I speak with
the permission of the people.
I speak about the true cause!
Whoever cannot listen to the truth,
let him be gone like that priest!
That's how things are,
comrades!
Miserable is the life
of the downtrodden.
I have seen misery
everywhere I have traveled.
But never before have I seen
such misery as in these parts...
Many of the cabins have
worse food than in prison cells!
Hundreds of cottages
are dirtier than pig-sties.
I spent Monday night
in a neighboring parish.
In a cabin where
the only food
was bark-bread
and stale sourmilk!
I am not lying!
The children
were stark naked!
Grandfather sat in the corner,
diseased and uncared for.
The man had cut off
his foot with an axe...
And the wife was
in a blessed state!
The chilly stove
was broken,
windows were stuffed
with straw.
I shivered and wept
and could not sleep all night!
Yet that parish was
said to have a rich pastor
who had no mercy but collected
his dues to the last penny!
And took the family's only cow
if they had no money!
Good God in Heaven,
I thought.
When will this end?
As everyone knows,
the elections will
be held on March 15th.
If you wish to support
the cause of the poor,
put a stoke opposite
the Social Democrat list!
The pastor left the room,
because he had no answers.
That speaker
put the record straight!
- The pastor left and didn't return.
- Didn't he say a thing?
The agitator really showed
that pastor what's what.
The International union
shall be the human race!
When is it beginning?
- When will what begin?
- The election!
March 15th!
Will an old man like me get to vote?
I'm already 96 years of age!
There's no age limit!
How do you
make that red line?
With your thumb!
It won't leave a mark!
Press so hard
that the blood will run!
What if it won't?
It's got to!
Nothing else will b*at them.
Just nick your thumb with a Kn*fe.
That ain't forbidden, is it?
No, there's
no paragraph about thumbs!
Drawing that red line,
it's like drinking the blood of Christ
at the communion.
It might bring ruin
and everlasting death,
or maybe blessing
and happiness all life long.
- Do we dare to draw it at all?
- Yes, we have to!
Power to the people!
The laws were made to oppress!
The rich get all the money!
The poor get all the poverty!
Isn't this all true?
The poor must be given security
in sickness, injury and old age!
Drinking must be prohibited!
Oppressor laws must be repealed.
And all the rulers...
Down with the rule of the few!
Justice for the down-trodden!
Free election days
throughout the land!
Today is the day!
Take your glasses with you!
Stay behind!
Got to keep my wits about me!
Just like in bear hunting.
I hope my poor head
can stand it.
Well, if the womenfolk can stand it,
so can I!
Move along now!
I'll draw that red line
real thick and heavy.
The Czar will see how mad
Finnish women get when they're hungry!
And I'm going to
put my initials on it,
no matter what
the Constitution says.
They'll see that we
mean business in these parts!
Remember not to push ahead of me
when we go to the election!
I'll make my mark first,
and you do it afterwards.
I'll explain to you
the way to behave.
- You mustn't talk there!
- Then I'll wink to you!
Wink to me, will you?
THE POOR WILL
HAVE THE POWER!
It's not our strength of will alone
That drives to make our ideals known
But also care for our dear land,
The happiness of our dear land!
Ah, new comrades!
Welcome!
- Have you cast your vote?
- Not yet!
Not yet?
I'll take you to the polling station...
Go on into the room.
There's plenty of space!
Have some coffee,
comrades,
before you go in the name
of the almighty people!
Hey, look at that!
Wonder if he'll be showing off
so much next year?
The squire will get skinny
when they take his bottle away!
- Who's that man with glasses?
- That's the new forester!
He gets six thousand to stop
the poor from gathering wood.
But will he
be doing it next year?
- Ready to go?
- If you could sing a little first?
What's it to be?
That...that Internal, maybe.
Here we go!
Arise, you prisoners of starvation,
Arise, you wretched of the earth
For justice thunders condemnation,
A better world's in birth
No more tradition's chains
will bind us...
...the International union
shall be the human race!
- Shall we go now?
- Yes.
POLLING STATION
Tobias Tobiaanpoika Romppanen?
Don't you know me?
- Wife, Fredrika Euphrosyne.
- Maiden name Juntunen!
The womenfolk's
own names don't matter here.
Go into the next room!
Come this way.
Can you manage on your own
or should I give you a hand?
I can find the number
without help from the masters!
You can go in there.
Number 30...
Social Crazy...
The last tricks of the enemy!
I won't let them
get away with it!
Don't you be handling
Crown property so roughly!
That line ought to be seen!
Can a poor woman go now?
There's one door
for poor and rich alike!
- Apostles of that world reformer!
- That's so for sure!
The way they insisted on
marking the ballot themselves!
Those women have
a lot of strength in their arms.
Sharpen the pencil, please!
Did you see the sweat
running down his face?
He was trembling
in his pants!
Shh!
More cattle coming in.
How long will you be staying
at the logging camp?
A couple of weeks or so.
Boys, give your mother a hand!
- You'll send us help soon?
- Yes, I will!
Coffee and sugar, too.
And candy for the children.
- Goodbye now!
- Goodbye and take care!
Soon there'll be other help,
when they count all those votes!
Yes...
Let's see Daddy off!
Today...
Today he will come!
The one who brings help
and banishes misery.
He didn't come today.
Today.
He must be coming today.
Didn't they see it was drawn
with the heart's blood of the poor?
Won't they come true,
the predictions?
The white bread and porridge
and pork fat were to come, in a flash!
Untorn shirts and
picture books for the children!
All those wonderful changes,
after drawing the red line.
Why don't they come?
They will when the time is right.
Just wait patiently,
keep believing.
The road from Petersburg is long!
Many a mile to Helsinki and here.
What is it?
Aren't you well?
My dear child...
Are you sick?
What is it
with my little one?
Mother will
put you to sleep.
Lie down now!
Mother will
make you some gruel.
Boys, don't cry!
Summer is coming.
Your heads will get better,
your throats and bellies too!
Nothing to worry about!
Lie down on the bench.
Mother will
make you some gruel.
Was it God or a bad spirit
who sent the disease?
Illness and sickness come
from the rich, the oppressors!
They do not care of
the sickness or death of the poor!
For to them
the poor are not people!
I don't know what to believe,
living out here in the forest.
It must be our masters' fault.
Children can't be cured in misery.
Perhaps drawing that red line
was counted as a sin?
Now the punishment is coming!
Topi and I were so proud
on that election day.
Didn't even say hello
to the sheriff.
If I could only go to
Kettuvaara to get some help.
Lord Jesus bless us!
Why put them into the world
when I can't care for them?
I couldn't handle
the sorrow if...
What are
these sicknesses, Kaisa?
I would think they are
contaminations of heresy!
- You mean Social Democracy?
- That's right!
God will not let
Himself be mocked!
Doomsday's might is terrifying
It will make your heartstrings bend
Everyone will end up dying
The whole world will come to end
Everyone will shake with fear
When the Judge is getting near
Heaven's trumpet blasts its sound
Through the world it sends its waves
Even deep under the ground
Raising the dead from their graves
Ready for the Judgment Day...
God can sometimes be harsh.
He brings his straying sheep
back to the fold
so they won't kick
against the powers that be.
Three children...
How much will it cost?
By law 50 pennies a head.
But we will make it one mark
since they are in one coffin.
Ashes to ashes,
dust to dust.
Jesus Christ, our Savior,
will raise thee on the Last Day.
Our party will win
a crushing victory!
The ruling classes
will come crashing to the ground.
It's the masters that are to blame
for the death of your children.
If there had been money and doctors,
they wouldn't have d*ed like puppies.
Topi! Topi, hey!
Topi!
Punainen viiva (1959)
Moderator: Maskath3
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