Valentin Vaala
| Valentin Vaala | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Valentin Ivanoff 13 October 1909 Helsinki |
| Died | 21 November 1976 (aged 67) Helsinki, Finland |
| Occupation | film director, screenwriter and edited |
| Years active | 1929–1973 |
Valentin Vaala (born Valentin Ivanoff) (13 October 1909 in Helsinki – 21 November 1976 in Helsinki) was a Finnish film director, screenwriter and 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.
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.
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.
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