comedy film
The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
directed by
Taneli Mustonen
Taneli Mustonen (born 1 January 1978)Taneli Mustonen – ''
. It tells the story of a couple, Jalmari and Maija, who inherit a house in need of a major renovation, taking the situation to catastrophic proportions.
Sami Hedberg
Sami Henrik Hedberg (born 13 March 1981 in Helsinki) is a Finnish stand up comedian and actor. Hedberg became famous after winning the ''Get up, stand up'' competition on Sub TV in 2005. This victory caused him to become one of the most popular ...
and
Kiti Kokkonen
Kiti Karoliina Kokkonen (born 4 October 1974 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish film and television actress, voice actress and writer. She has been the artistic director of ("Finnish Comedy Theatre") since February 2010. She is the daughter of fi ...
starred in the main roles of the film, in addition to which Hedberg portrays numerous
supporting character
A supporting character is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storyline, but is important to the plot/protagonist, and appears or is mentioned in the story enough to be more than just a minor character or a cameo a ...
s.
The film is a Finnish
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...
of the 2018 Norwegian film ''Norske byggeklosser'', which in turn is a remake of the 1972 film of the same name. Director Taneli Mustonen says he got the idea for the film while presenting his '' Bodom'' film at the
South by Southwest Film Festival
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...
in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, where he met Norwegians who were excited about the ''Norske Byggeklosser'' they produced. He later reached an agreement to direct the Finnish version. The house to be renovated in the film is located in
Viljandi
Viljandi (, , , , ) is a Populated places in Estonia, town and Municipalities of Estonia, municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,255 in 2024. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major ...
, Estonia. In addition to Estonia, the film was shot in
Vihti
Vihti (; ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Vihti is situated in the Uusimaa region. The population of Vihti is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Fin ...
, Finland.
''The Renovation'' premiered on February 19, 2020. Despite poor reviews (''Episodi'' magazine and ''Film-O-Holic'' website, for example, rated it one star out of five), the film was successful with audiences and exceeded 100,000 viewers in Finland in 11 days.
Cast
*
Sami Hedberg
Sami Henrik Hedberg (born 13 March 1981 in Helsinki) is a Finnish stand up comedian and actor. Hedberg became famous after winning the ''Get up, stand up'' competition on Sub TV in 2005. This victory caused him to become one of the most popular ...
as Jalmari / Mischa / Pirkka / bank manager / waste management worker / explosive man / tractor driver
*
Kiti Kokkonen
Kiti Karoliina Kokkonen (born 4 October 1974 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish film and television actress, voice actress and writer. She has been the artistic director of ("Finnish Comedy Theatre") since February 2010. She is the daughter of fi ...
as Maija
*
Rea Mauranen
Rea Mauranen (born 25 April 1949) is a Finnish television actress who has appeared in several Finnish films.
Mauranen made her debut on TV in 1974, and has worked consistently ever since mostly appearing on Finnish television. In film, she worke ...
as Oili
*
Kari Ketonen
Kari Mikael Ketonen (born 16 August 1971) is a Finnish actor. Born in Espoo, he portrayed the president of Russia Vladimir Putin in the sketch comedy television show ''Putous'' in 2014. He also played Putin in the film '' Iron Sky: The Coming Race ...
as Folke
*
Hannu-Pekka Björkman
Hannu-Pekka Juhani Björkman (born 11 February 1969 in Kannonkoski) is a Finnish actor who has appeared in theatres, on television and in films. In 2005, he won a Jussi Award for the best actor in a leading role for a film ''Eläville ja kuollei ...
Jarmo Koski
Jarmo Koski (2 July 1951 in Imatra, South Karelia) is a Finnish actor. He starred as Seppo Taalasmaa in the half-hour soap opera ''Salatut Elämät'' from 1999 to 2013 and briefly in 2017 and from 2020 to 2021.
Dubbed movies, Finnish voice
He ...