Solarfilms Inc.

Like so many of my generation, I come from a deeply patriotic home. My father served as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Medical Corps both in the Winter and the Continuation Wars, and my mother was active in the volunteer auxiliary woman’s corps, the Lottas, very close to the front lines.

The value of Finland’s independence and the maintenance of the traditions of our people were central values in my family even in my earliest childhood. So, who would have thought that when I grew up, my dream of making movies would take me away from my homeland for over twenty years?

I have found my place in the world and been given the chance to create stories which hundreds of millions of people around the globe have gathered to watch in the darkness of movie theaters.

Yet, I have always carried my Finnish heritage with me and dreamed that one day I would return and use the knowledge and skill I have acquired to make a great Finnish film.

For years, I searched for the right subject. A story that, dramatically and thematically, would reflect the deep passion I have for my homeland.

From the beginning I sensed that the story would have to link up with our history, but a few years ago I knew that I had found my way home when a script with Mannerheim as its subject came before me. His life spanned most of Finnish modern history. His story mediates between Finland’s position and its impact on world events and history much more dramatically than any fictitious plot could hope to do.

When I started familiarizing myself with the different stages of Mannerheim’s life,  I realized that the movie had to be gigantic in scope. A real portrait of Mannerheim is not achieved by concentrating on a certain era or eras of historical importance in his epic life. On the other hand, nor would a dryly factual history lesson do justice to our principal character and his colorful life.

We have all seen the traditional paintings and photographs. Many books have been written shedding light on different facets of his life. But who was he? As a real person? What makes a little boy dream about faraway countries and leave everything behind him in his search of them: against the wishes of his family, against public opinion?

What are the exceptional qualities that allow someone to achieve success in a foreign land, in a foreign culture?

What attributes gift a man with superior leadership? How does anyone find the strength and courage to face battle time after time, regardless of personal comfort, well-being and risk to life?

What kind of person is prepared to sacrifice love, family, friends, happiness and security for a greater cause? Where does the unyielding sense of duty and the charisma come from that enables a man, in his late seventies, to lead a nation to miracles?

Renny Harlin
Director
Los Angeles