Ihmemies (1979)
November 2, 1979Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.
Antti Litja
Olli Ruusunen
Martti Pennanen
Martti Tuomola
Saara Pakkasvirta
Anneli
Tarja-Tuulikki Tarsala
Tuula Korkeamäki
Antti Peippo
Director
Kullervo Kukkasjärvi
Writer
Jussi Kylätasku
Writer
Pentti Nykvist
Writer
Olli Soinio
Writer
Marjaleena Virtanen
Writer
Timo Linnasalo
Sound Designer / Production Sound Mixer
Jouko Aaltonen
Location Manager
Juha-Veli Äkräs
Director of Photography
Matti Kuortti
Production Sound Mixer
Antti Hytti
Original Music Composer
Nadja Pyykkö
Makeup Artist
Tuomo Kattilakoski
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Juho Gartz
Editor
Matteus Marttila
Production Design
Erkki Saarainen
Production Design
Sari Salmela
Costume Design
Jorma Korpinen
Colorist
Risto Taulo
Arto Tuominen
Seela Sella
Seppo Huunonen
Esa Helasvuo
Original Music Composer
Masaaki Hashimoto
Nils Brandt
Jukka Sipilä
Maija Karhi
Sulevi Peltola
Media.
Details.
Release DateNovember 2, 1979
StatusReleased
Running Time1h 43m
Genres
Last updated:
Wiki.
Wonderman (Finnish: Ihmemies) is a 1979 Finnish science fiction horror comedy film directed by Antti Peippo and starring Antti Litja, Martti Pennanen and Saara Pakkasvirta. It tells story about the data-expert that proposes, after his brain capacity has ben developed in the special rationalization program, the serious measures that will save the company from an economic collapse, but when his drastic savings programs forces the board to resign, he must go underground.
The film is the only directorial work of Peippo, who was better known as a cinematographer, and Jouko Turkka was originally planned to be the director of the film. Wonderman was also the first film production of the Filminor company after the death of its leader Risto Jarva in 1977. The Finnish Film Foundation supported the production of Wonderman with FIM 830,000. Yleisradio bought three TV broadcast rights in advance for FIM 220,000, but only used two of them. The official premiere of the film was on November 2, 1979, only in Finland's largest cities; in Kuopio, Pori, Vaasa and Jyväskylä, Wonderman was not seen until around 1980. Viewers, the film gathered 42% of the 1979 average.According to the advertising slogan on the poster, Wonderman was a "comedy for our time" (Komedia meidän ajastamme), but after the film's premiere, critics didn't really know how to feel about it, as its slapstick-style visual comedy was considered too overlaid on the story. Mikael Fränti from Helsingin Sanomat mentioned the following about the film, among other things: "What kind of movie is Wonderman? Maybe we could talk about a contemplative film that also relies on humor and functional pranks. --- But apparently the problem is that Wonderman is too 'literary' at the level of the script. And during the making process, this written taste has not been completely achieved to eliminate." A later reviewer, Pekka Suorsa from DVD-opas, sees the Wonderman as telling more about our own time squeezed by the "quarter economy" than about the problems of the late 1970s.