Forest Giant (Metsäjätti)

THE FINNISH FILM FOUNDATION FUNDS FINNISH FILMS

BASED ON A NOVEL BY MIIKA NOUSIAINEN

- Hello, boy. - It's a girl.

Yes, it's a girl. You can see it here.

Here are the arms and legs.

Hi, Katariina.

- When can you come to the office? - In an hour. 45 minutes.

- Do you want to advance in your career? - Yes.

- So? - I'll see you in 30 minutes.

You can see the fingers clearly. All five of them.

She looks like she's boxing.

The umbilical cord.

Katariina wants to see me at the office. - Now?

Now. Aren't we done here?

- The apartment showing is at 5. - Yeah, yeah, I'll be there.

I know you want a house, -

but I've got a good feeling about this apartment.

Apartment buildings are so depressing. - This one isn't.

Aren't you going to drop me off so I can buy the stroller?

- C'mon. - You'll do fine, honey. Be on time.

I've talked about stepping-stones. This is one for you.

Okay.

I'm sending you to Törmälä.

Is that a problem?

- No. Not at all. - Good.

The plywood mill needs optimizing.

At the moment, it generates 9 percent of our revenue.

Increase it a couple of notches, -

and you may be sitting here some day.

I'll take this desk with me, though.

- You can buy yourself a new one. - Sure.

A couple of dismissals, early retirements, -

no rebel activity, no headlines.

- You know what? - What?

- Seems pretty straightforward to me. - Good.

They trust you because you grew up there.

Fucking Törmälä.

METSÄJÄTTI (FOREST GIANT)

The rural town of Törmälä, in Central Finland, -

was founded in the early 1900s.

Tycoon Sven Ljungkvist stumbled upon the area while on a hunting trip.

He fell asleep outside, drunk, and dreamed of a sawmill by the river.

He built the sawmill, -

and the village of Törmälä grew beside it.

The mill increased its capacity.

It produced plywood, which was used for floors, signs and furniture.

In the 1960s, the era of the tycoon came to an end, -

and the Törmälä Plywood Mill -

merged with Metsajatti.

Over the following decades, the mill expanded and hired more workers.

One of them was forest harvest operator Jarmo Raninen.

His porn collection is rumored to be -

the largest south of Lapland.

He used to tell masturbation stories to local kids.

Today it would be a crime, but back in the 90s, -

it was an essential part of the town's character.

Jarmo Raninen has worked his whole life in the plywood industry.

The plywood industry uses the best part of the tree, the log.

The paper and pulp industries use whatever is left.

Yet, people working in the paper and pulp industries make more money.

Thus, their houses and cars are nicer.

Paper mill workers can buy new cars. Plywood mill workers buy used ones.

This injustice pisses off the Törmälä mill workers on a daily basis.

The population of Törmälä is 5,253.

The official flower of Törmälä is the tufted vetch.

Törmälä's twin town is Polish industrial town Świętochłowice.

All in all, Törmälä is a normal Finnish town.

It's nice in the summer.

Maybe not during the 90s' recession, but in the 80s during the upswing, -

people had a good time in the old lumber port on sunny days.

At least in the early evening.

Friends, we have more than one reason to celebrate.

Last month was the best in the mill's history.

The capacity has been close to 80,000 cubic meters for quite a while.

You're doing a good job.

I can't praise you enough.

Good job, Jari! - Yeah, yeah.

But we have to remember -

that we have to do as well or better in the future.

This might sound alarming, but we don't need to worry.

Headquarters is sending the head of development here -

to review our process.

What the fuck?

Let's remember we just broke our record.

- They'll lay people off again. - They can't be that stupid.

They want to use us as a model. That's what they want.

They're sending a good man. I'm sure many of you know him.

Pasi Kauppi. A local boy.

- Did he say "Pasi"? - Gutter Pasi.

- Yeah, him. - Piss Pasi.

- All right. - Hi.

Hello. Welcome.

- Sorry. - Up we go.

Oh, my. 125 beautiful square meters.

This is unique.

You won't find another one like this anytime soon.

- The lights don't work. - They haven't been installed yet.

Right.

What if there's a blackout and the elevators stop working?

They won't. There's a backup generator in the building.

Pasi.

Take your time. Please don't hesitate to ask questions.

They're building a similar high-rise next to this one, -

but it won't ruin the view.

How'd the meeting go? - Well. It went well.

The promotion is mine.

So we'll take this? - We will?

Should I call my dad? - No, you should not.

So we're taking it? - Yes.

We're taking it. - We're taking it.

We don't want to look too eager. Let's be cool. - Yeah.

Let's be cool. - Okay.

Well? Looks like you're interested.

Maybe. - Somewhat.

This does indeed feel spacious.

I want to go with you. - No, you don't.

I've never been to Törmälä. - There's nothing to see.

I want to see all the places you told me about.

I'll just be working there.

In and out. I'll be back before you know it.

It would've been nice to meet your dad.

Yeah.

You must miss him.

Do you ever think about him?

I'l miss you when I'm with the whiny Törmälä folks.

Shall we have dessert? I will anyway. - Why not.

Pasi Kauppi. - Jari Virtasalmi, mill manager.

Kuisma, chief union steward.

In the spring, we replaced the feeder on the conveyor.

We also added laser micrometers on both lathes.

And last month we broke our production record.

You've also worked here, right? - Yeah, I've worked here summers.

I'm sure it was quite a sight -

when half the lake was full of logs.

You should prepare yourselves for some layoffs. - What the fuck?

You can't do this again.

I trust you not to talk to the staff yet.

We'll know more in the next few weeks.

What's next?

Let's go see the soaking basin and the debarker.

Fucking shit.

BAT techniques.

Best available techniques.

Moving on.

Pasi!

Pasi, dammit.

What? - Well... This.

How long are you staying? When can I see you?

I mean, I'm seeing you now, but for real?

I'U0 be around.

Let's call. - I have your number.

Or do you have a new number?

See you.

Let's move on.

In Harrisburg you have to close the windows in a hurry

In Finland you don't need to worry

Harrisburg is on another planet

Things like that Just don't happen here

Pasi. Everything's gonna be fine.

Welcome to Törmälä. Jorma Lahtinen. - Mauno. Mauno Kauppi.

Hi. Sirkka-Liisa.

All right. We know how to do this.

We can watch the Olympics together.

Hey!

Shit! - What the hell?

Janne, goddammit!

What happened? Are you hurt? You'll be okay.

Apologize. - I'm sorry, even though it was an accident.

All right. Pasi, calm down.

Looks like she'll be the world champion.

Laying down some twigs... -Goddammit!

Marjo! Marjo! Marjo!

Pasi!

I didn't drink all of them. Or at least I won't admit to it.

Er... I have work in the morning.

So do I.

So, Metallica or Maiden?

What?

I don't care as long as it's one of the two.

Heavy metal is the best.

It's a bit like the mechanical forest industry.

You do the basic things properly and cut corners a bit, -

and the outcome'll be... solid.

What's going to happen at the mill?

I can't really talk about it. And I don't know exactly yet.

Headquarters wants to optimize, even though we're breaking records.

What we need here is a railroad.

There's already the foundation for a branch line.

We used to play there as kids.

I'm sure you've discussed these things at headquarters.

Thanks. Pay for your own drinks.

Thanks.

Wow.

To Vesa's memory. - To Vesa.

Shit Antti. - Yep, Antti.

He shoved my head in the toilet all the time. - Me too.

Fortunately precocious puberty or bench-pressing 100 kilos -

doesn't guarantee success. - In junior high it did.

I work with him on the same line. - Janne.

How come you never got out? You have potential.