The Harvest Month (1956)

Like Rokava, the Ceylonese entry in the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, the title of the Finnish entry Eiokuu translates to Destiny. Directed by Matti Kassila, one of Finland’s premiere filmmakers, Eiokuu was adapted from a novel by F. Sillipaa. Simply put, the story concerns the decline and fall of a once-proud 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 film’s worldwide appeal.