Erkki Karu (10 April 1887 Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 – 8 December 1935 Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

) was a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 film director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

, screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 and producer

Film producer

A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

, and one of the pioneers of the Finnish cinema.

Career

Karu started his career as a member of a theater troupe in 1907. He became interested in cinema during the 1910s and was reportedly interested in starting his own film company as early as 1915. Karu dabbled in filmmaking, and directed, wrote, edited and produced the comedy short films Ylioppilas Pöllövaaran kihlaus and Sotagulashi Kaiun häiritty kesäloma for Suomen Biografi Oy, both of which were released in 1920.

Karu founded the film production company Suomi-Filmi

Suomi-Filmi

Suomi-Filmi, lit. Finland-Film, is a Finnish film production and distribution company established in 1919 by Erkki Karu. Suomi-Filmi produced around 160 feature length films and for most of its history was one of the two most important film companies in the country, along with Suomen Filmiteollisuus...

 in 1919, which by the end of the 1920s had grown into the largest company in its field in Finland. Karu not only worked as the CEO

Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

, but was also the head director for most of his stay in the company. Working to secure the finances of his company, Karu had to wait until 1922 before starting work on his feature-length debut, an adaptation of the Väinö Kataja novel Koskenlaskijan morsian, which saw its release on New Year's Day 1923. The film was a success, as was Karu's next work, the Aleksis Kivi

Aleksis Kivi

Aleksis Kivi , born Alexis Stenvall, was a Finnish author who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language, Seven Brothers...

 adaptation Nummisuutarit, released in the same year. Because of both the popularity and artistic merit of these works, the year 1923 has been called the pinnacle of Karu's directing career. Throughout the rest of the decade and the early 1930s, Karu continued to direct popular films, such as Myrskyluodon kalastaja (1924), Suvinen satu (1925), Muurmanin pakolaiset (1927) and Nuori luotsi (1928). He remained the most successful director during the early years of Suomi-Filmi.

Suomi-Filmi ran into financial difficulties after the global depression stemming from the Wall Street Crash of 1929

Wall Street Crash of 1929

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...

 caused the attendance figures of cinemas to drop. Karu was accused of financial irresponsibility by the rest of the company's shareholders and in 1933 had to resign from the company he had started. After leaving Suomi-Filmi, Karu wasted no time, and only months later started what would become his old company's main rival, Suomen Filmiteollisuus

Suomen Filmiteollisuus

Suomen Filmiteollisuus , lit. Finland's Film Industry, is a Finnish film production company founded by Erkki Karu in 1933 after financial problems with Suomi-Filmi. The CEO, director, producer and writer T.J. Särkkä was a central figure in Suomen Filmiteollisuus. Among others, the film director...

. Karu had originally intended to start the company alongside an assistant director from Suomi-Filmi, Risto Orko

Risto Orko

Risto Eliel William Orko was a Finnish film producer and director....

, but Orko eventually chose to remain in Suomi-Filmi when he was offered the spot of head director. Instead, Karu found another partner, Toivo Särkkä

Toivo Särkkä

Toivo Jalmari Särkkä , born Toivo Hjalmar Silén, was a Finnish film producer and director. He was CEO of the production company Suomen Filmiteollisuus....

, who himself would go on to become the most prolific director in not only Suomen Filmiteollisuus but the whole of Finland.

Karu held the title of head director in his new company, but during his short stay there could only direct two films, Syntipukki and Roinilan talossa, both in 1935, neither of which was very successful. He died unexpectedly on December 8, 1935.

Family

Karu married Elli Kylmänen, at the end of 1915. The couple had two children, Olavi (1916-1992) and Sinikka (1917-1994).

Filmography

• Ylioppilas Pöllövaaran kihlaus (1920)
• Sotagulashi Kaiun häiritty kesäloma (1920)
• Se parhaiten nauraa joka viimeksi nauraa (1921)
• Finlandia (1922)
• Koskenlaskijan morsian (1923)
• Nummisuutarit (1923)
• Kun isällä on hammassärky (1923)
• Myrskyluodon kalastaja (1924)
• Suvinen satu (1925)
• Muurmannin pakolaiset (1927)
• Runoilija muuttaa (1927)
• Nuori luotsi (1928)
• Meidän poikamme (1929)
• Tukkipojan morsian (1931)
• Meidän poikamme merellä (1933)
• Voi meitä! Anoppi tulee! (1933)
• Ne 45000 (1933)
• Meidän poikamme ilmassa – me maassa (1934)
• Syntipukki (1935)
• Roinilan talossa (1935)

External links