At times movies focus on obscure history within their country which leads to a change or evaluation of history. The film Never Alone by Klaus Haro highlights an event that could redefine history and Never Alone is on track to do that. It depicts the deportation of eight Austrian Jewish refugees from Finland, and the work of Abraham Stiller, a prominent member of the Jewish community in Helsinki, who tried to intervene and block the deportation order.
Although there was a strained partnership between Finland and Nazi Germany in the earlier stages of the war, Jewish citizens inhabiting Finland were offered state protection because some officials did not want to comply with the Gestapo’s orders to deport all Jews.
The subject has not been treated in film before because, according to producer Ilkka Matila, it was too painful for the Finnish state and society to deal with publicly. Moreover, Matila points out, it is a narrative with immense contemporary relevance. “The issues being explored today are the same as in the film: who are these people and why should we help them?”
This fifth work from the Finnish director was produced by Matila on a coproduction agreement with Estonia, Sweden, Germany, and Austria. The screenplay was written by Härö, based on a story he crafted with screenwriter Jimmy Karlsson, her long-time partner. It is loosely based on the account “Uncle Stiller,” written by journalist Roni Smolar, alongside actual occurrences. The Playmaker from Munich is in charge of the distribution.
The first eight days of filming were conducted in a black box studio in Estonia. There, the very skilled production designer Jaagup Roomet further developed the amazing period detail of the Stiller’s comfortable Helsinki home. The couple is portrayed by Ville Virtanen, who is globally recognized for his role in the detective series “Bordertown” and Nina Hukkinen, his co-star. The cinematographer is Robert Nordström, who previously worked on ‘My Sailor, My Love.
Nordström’s work can be considered very competent. The big, serious character Virtanen definitely delivers an incredible amount of elegance and assurance that fits Stiller nicely, a man who had the confidence that his connections in Helisinki’s 2000-odd Jewish community and the local bourgeois and civil service would tilt the balance in his favor. This actor, who first encountered Härö many years ago while he was performing in his film school project, points out that one of the hard parts of the role was having to speak Finnish, Swedish, German, Yiddish, Hebrew, and Russian.
Matila calls, half-jokingly, Hӓrӧ, the man who came from the Swedish minority of Finland, the Finnish Steven Spielberg. It is not a bad comparison. Like Spielberg, Härö is faith-based (although Christian) and becomes intelligent when wrapping important subjects in well-acted smoothly crafted dramas that entertain, educate, and wedge in moments of heightened sentiment that shed few but honestly earn the tears.
In letters to his friends, K. Stiller, the main character in Kalevipoeg, describes a story that interests Härö. It deals with the life of a little-known, pre-war, Estonian fencing master Endel Nelis who rose to prominence as a world-class fencing champion and coach in the West after the war. K. Stiller had been working on the story for years. This strongly motivated him to bring his ideas to the screen.
In addition, this story served as motivation for Härö’s other films dealing with the subject matter of occupation. The Fencer won the Best Feature Film award in the Estonian Film and Television Awards.
He explains his motivation with confidence. The most compelling motivation for inspirational stories like this one springs from faith. Each person has some story they yearn to tell, that arouses deep emotions for them, he notes.
While listening to their thinking, I defended the other position: should we go down the route of the Holocaust, you risk getting branded with the worst label possible: extreme right wing. That was the one phrase no one wanted to hear just because it’s a Holocaust-related topic doesn’t mean you can frame everything with liberal labels.
Härö had to struggle for some time on how to best approach the story, but as he centered on the character of Stiller and his dynamic with the young Austrian Jewish couple Georg and Janka Kollman Austrian actors Rony Herman and Naemi Latzer, and the openly anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi Arno Anthoni, the head of the Finnish State Police, everything fell into place.
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