The Harvest Month

The title of the Finnish film Elokuu translates to August Directed by Matti Kassila one of Finlands premiere filmmakers Elokuu was adapted from a novel by Nobel prize winning finnish author FE Sillanpää Simply put the story concerns the decline and fall of a onceproud family thanks to the alcoholism of its paterfamilias Toivo Makela delivers a powerfully effective performance as the inebriated protagonist avoiding the usual drunken cliches The overlong running time coupled with the downbeat nature of the subject limited the films worldwide appeal