TV series breathes new life into Finland's northernmost city
By Niina Pasula
Kemijärvi - where nature is stark, and the people are genuine. Nobody dwells on layoffs or factory shutdowns. "The jewel of Lapland" is how many local residents of Kemijärvi describe their home town.
Whatever happened to the small, depressing town that was so familiar?
A miracle was worked by the television drama Taivaan tulet ("Fires of the Heavens"). Which was shot in Kemijärvi, and concluded last week. The series, written by Kari Väänänen and Timo Parvela, examined the integration of an outsider, a young policewoman, into the world of Kemijärvi.
Jukka Vaarala, sitting in the Viisikko pub, enthusiastically confirms the perception. " Taivaan tulet is the most positive thing that has happened to Kemijärvi in half a decade".
Filmed in the city rom the autumn of 2005 through the autumn of 2006, Taivaan tulet made the city so well known that the owner of the Hotel Kemijärvi, Ari Parviainen, is busy thinking how to attract summer visitors to stop there.
"Perhaps we should lay some spikes on Highway five", he laughs.
Such drastic measures might not be needed. Parviainen calculates that during Easter there were about a dozen tourists staying at the hotel who said that they had come to the city because of the TV series.
"Many of those travelling north would otherwise have driven up Highway 4, but now they have taken a detour east to see the city that is familiar from TV."
In another pub, Onnenpäivät ("Happy Days"), there are more happy people who feel that thanks to Taivaan tulet, it is more fun to be from Kemijärvi than it used to be. "We are holding our heads high, now that Kemijärvi has been put on the map of Finland", Veikko Iivari says, straightening his posture.
"The series is undoubtedly beneficial. I'm sure that the tourists will come here to look at places."
Iivari and his friends Heimo Anunti and Mauri Tabell are upset only about one thing: the strong language that emerges in the series. The policewoman, who moved to the city from Espoo, is called a "cunt from the south".
"We don't talk like that - certainly not to pretty young girls", Anunti says, disapprovingly.
Next to Onnenpäivät stands an empty business office premises, where the set for the No Man's Land pub that was featured in the television series stood. It is unlikely that a copy of the No Man's Land set will be built as a tourist trap, since the building is not zoned for restaurant activities.
"So this is where they had the bar", says Pentti Lensu, who steps out of a white Volkswagen. "Can't really recognise it."
Eeva Metso and Pentti Lensu from Lappeenranta are going to the Pyhätunturi fell for a holiday. The two watched all of the episodes of Taivaan tulet. They feel that the city should exploit its fame, at least by placing signs guiding motorists to locations where scenes from the series were shot.
The series focuses largely on the work of the police. A real police officer, Tarmo Alaluusua hops out of a police car at the Kemijärvi open market. Let's ask if the city is the kind of place that the series suggests that it might be.
"It's not quite like that here", Alaluusua answers. "For instance, we have not seen any Russian prostitutes. The moonshine business was something of a problem before the price of alcohol went down."
He feels that the series was successful in its most important element - the way that a small town handles its affairs.
Here a police officer knows his or her people, and the people know their police. People are not afraid to come and ask for help if they need it.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 18.4.2007
NIINA PASULA / Helsingin Sanomat
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| 24.4.2007 - THIS WEEK |
 TV series breathes new life into Finland's northernmost city |
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