Valentin Vaala

Valentin Vaala (born Valentin Yakovich Ivanoff, Russian: Валентин Якович Иванов; 13 October 1909 in Helsinki – 21 November 1976 in Helsinki) was a Finnish film director, screenwriter and film editor. His career spanned several decades, from 1929 to 1973, and has been called one of the most significant, in both quality and popularity, in the history of Finnish cinema.

Early career Vaala was born to Russian parents Jakov Ivanov (Ivanoff), a milliner, and Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Jeminova. The couple moved from Saint Petersburg to Helsinki prior to Vaala's birth. The family spoke Russian at home, and Valentin attended school at Helsinki's Russian-language Tabunov School. After leaving school, he worked as an illustrator for the daily newspaper Uusi Suomi from 1926 until 1929.

As a teenager, Vaala befriended Theodor Tugai – who later became known as a film director and actor under the name Teuvo Tulio – and the pair recognized their common interest in films. They decided to start making films together, but their first feature-length attempt, Mustat silmät in 1929, never received wide distribution. Vaala himself was reportedly so disappointed with the resulting film that he dumped the original camera negatives into the sea. However, later in the same year, Vaala and Tulio partially remade the film as Mustalaishurmaaja for the Fennica-Filmi company. This film became a hit and earned the starring Tulio the nickname "Finland's Valentino". The pair went on to make two other films, Laveata tietä (1931) and Sininen varjo (1933) with Vaala directing and Tulio starring.

While Tulio moved on with his own acting and directing career, Vaala went on to direct his last film for Fennica-Filmi, Helsingin kuuluisin liikemies, in 1934. After the demise of Fennica, Vaala directed one film for Bio-Kuva, Kun isä tahtoo…, also in 1934. The next year Vaala was hired as the second director of the film production company, Suomi-Filmi, following Risto Orko. Vaala remained contracted to the company for the rest of his career.

Career with Suomi-Filmi Vaala on set of the 1948 film Ihmiset suviyössä on location in Hauho. During his career, Vaala directed 44 feature-length theatrical films, the second most among Finnish directors, behind only Toivo Särkkä. 38 of those films were made while he was employed by Suomi-Filmi. His first film with the company was the romantic comedy Kaikki rakastavat (1935). It was also the first film that Ansa Ikonen and Tauno Palo starred in together. The film was followed by an urban comedy, Vaimoke in 1936, which starred the same leading pair, and ended up being a popular success and served as the breakthrough film for all involved. The film was an adaptation from a work by Hilja Valtonen, as was the sequel, Mieheke, which Vaala directed in the same year.

Many of Vaala's films were adaptations of popular classics of Finnish literature, by authors such as Mika Waltari, Aleksis Kivi and Maiju Lassila. Vaala also directed several adaptations on works by Frans Eemil Sillanpää, one of which, Ihmiset suviyössä (1948), has been called his best film, and is reported to have been one of the director's personal favorites. Another personal favorite of his, and also a popular success, was Loviisa, Niskavuoren nuori emäntä (1946), an adaptation from a Wuolijoki play. Vaala's other popular films included Niskavuoren naiset in 1938 and his adaptations from Mika Waltari's books Gabriel, tule takaisin (1951) and Omena putoaa… (1952). Nummisuutarit in 1957 and Nuori Mylläri in 1958 were also among the most watched films in Finland during their release years.

Personal life Valentin Vaala was homosexual and he never married.

Awards Vaala won three Jussi Awards for directing and one for screenwriting. One of the directing awards was given jointly for Dynamiittityttö and in 1945, the others were for Loviisa, Niskavuoren nuori emäntä (1946) and Omena putoaa (1952). He earned the lone screenwriting award with Ihmiset suviyössä (1946).

Filmography Mustat silmät, 1929 Mustalaishurmaaja, 1929 Laveata tietä, 1931 Sininen varjo, 1933 Helsingin kuuluisin liikemies, 1934 Kun isä tahtoo…, 1935 Kaikki rakastavat, 1935 Vaimoke, 1936 Mieheke, 1936 Koskenlaskijan morsian, 1937 Juurakon Hulda, 1938 Niskavuoren naiset, 1938 Sysmäläinen, 1938 Rikas tyttö, 1939 Vihreä kulta, 1939 Jumalan myrsky, 1940 Antreas ja syntinen Jolanda, 1941 Morsian yllättää, 1941 Varaventtiili, 1942 Keinumorsian, 1943 Neiti Tuittupää, 1943 Tositarkoituksella, 1943 Dynamiittityttö, 1944 , 1945 Vuokrasulhanen, 1945 Viikon tyttö, 1946 Loviisa – Niskavuoren nuori emäntä, 1946 Maaret – tunturien tyttö, 1947 Ihmiset suviyössä, 1948 Jossain on railo, 1949 Sinut minä tahdon, 1949 Gabriel tule takaisin, 1951 Kulkurin tyttö, 1952 Omena putoaa…, 1952 Huhtikuu tulee, 1953 Siltalan pehtoori, 1953 Minäkö isä, 1954 Minä ja mieheni morsian, 1955 Yhteinen vaimomme, 1956 Nummisuutarit, 1957 Nuori Mylläri, 1958 Niskavuoren naiset, 1958 Nuoruus vauhdissa, 1961 Totuus on armoton, 1963