Italy is, without a doubt, the best known and most active European country where so-called Eurowesterns have been created. Even if elsewhere on the old continent such films have been less common, several colorful works can be found in several other countries, too. Here the focus is on Finnish western movies, which are, on the one hand, a tiny corner of the Eurowestern tradition and, on the other hand, an example of Finnish interpretations of the American frontier among other media, such as comics, popular music, games and books.

In this article we consider the Western genre rather inclusively than exclusively: instead of limiting the study only to the few feature films that would meet the exact definition of a “Finnish Western”, we have also counted in, among others, Moomin animations which were animated in Japan, as well as Western-inspired movies taking place in Northern Finland. In addition, shorter works, such as music videos, short films, and advertisements, receive some attention. For possibly interested viewers there are also notes on the current availability of the artworks (as of Fall 2023).

The analysis of Finnish Western Movies – which there are not many – revealed their dual nature: they have been built on the most familiar clichés of the genre, yet at the same time they blend the West and Finnish themes in a distinctive manner, which is typical for Eurowesterns in general. Another clear finding is the rise of indie productions in the 2000s, when digitalization brought increasingly affordable and powerful tools to the hands of new creators. Almost all of the movies discussed here are comedies colored by parody, which suggests that producing a genuine “serious” Finnish Western has been considered as too big a challenge.

This English summary is based on the following article, originally published in Finnish: Reunanen, M. & Heikkinen, T. (2023). Sorakuoppien sankarit – suomalaisia lännenelokuvia laajalla otannalla. WiderScreen, 26(2–3). http://widerscreen.fi/numerot/2-3-2023-widerscreen-26/sorakuoppien-sankarit-suomalaisia-lannenelokuvia-laajalla-otannalla/

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