The Life of Aleksis Kivi

In 1858, within the Grand Duchy of Finland, a young man named Aleksis Stenvall, who had completed his matriculation a year earlier but lacked funds, strives to win the favor of society. He rides into Helsinki with the bear he and his fellow student Emil Nervander felled, bringing the bear’s harness to a party hosted by Amalia Rosencrantz to honor the poet J. L. Runeberg. There, the crowd gathers to hear Runeberg’s poems Bonden Paavo and Vårt land, and the atmosphere trembles with anticipation. Aleksis astonishes the audience when he recites his own poem Suomenmaa in Finnish, challenging the notion that poetry must be in Swedish to be prestigious, a moment that stirs both admiration and controversy. At the carnival he meets Albina Palmqvist, Amalia Rosencrantz’s niece, and a flicker of possibility crosses his mind as he envisions a future among the Finnish-speaking people. Albina Palmqvist becomes a focal point as Aleksis invites her to his home village Palojoki, and he even dares to propose to her. Yet Amalia Rosencrantz’s skeptical response colors the proposal with a stubborn defense of conventional social rules, leaving Aleksis frustrated and shaken.

Five years pass and Aleksis gives up his early path as a priest to pursue writing, adopting the pen name Aleksis Kivi. The heated language dispute at the university escalates into a clash with the pro-Swedish Henrik Lax, a confrontation that almost spirals out of control until Professor Fredrik Cygnaeus steps in to calm things down, just before the arrival of the language professor August Ahlqvist, accompanied by gendarmes. The tension is sharp and personal, and Aleksis learns to tread carefully around powerful figures who could shape his fate.

Aleksis works in the yard of widow Mrs. Charlotta Lönnqvist in Fanjunkars, Siuntio, writing Heath Cobblers while arguing with the neighboring host Skog about the status of the Finnish language. Charlotta responds with warmth and passion, gradually drawing Aleksis into a deeper emotional current as she falls in love with the ardent artist. The Imperial Senate issues a call for the National Literary Competition, and the supporters of Runeberg alongside August Ahlqvist celebrate the anticipated triumph, even as Cygnaeus hints that the prize may not be theirs alone. The competition’s verdict eventually awards the 2,500 Finnish mark prize to Kivi’s Heath Cobblers, a decision that Ahlqvist, in particular, finds provocative and provoking. In parallel, Nervander organizes a party where Kaarlo Bergbom pledges to found a Finnish-language theater if Aleksis keeps writing plays for performance. Cygnaeus raises a toast to Kivi and to Finnish culture, a moment that is soon shadowed by the news that Aleksis’ father is dying, pressing the weight of personal duty onto his shoulders.

The famine years begin to carve a terrible scar across Finland, and by 1868 some 140,000 people die. The estate of Fanjunkars falters under debt, and [Skog]’s accusations mount, blaming Aleksis for the financial crisis and even whispering rumors about illicit affairs in the parish. Aleksis promises to redeem his position and to save Charlotta’s honor, a pledge that places him under immense strain while Bergbom directs Kivi’s Lea as the first Finnish-language theater production. He drinks heavily, yet the fire for his craft burns on as he feverishly crafts what would become his first and only novel, The Seven Men, racing to finish before exhaustion overtakes him and ultimately revising the title to The Seven Brothers. Charlotta finds him unconscious in the garden, and the subsequent critical blow comes when a slanderous review from August Ahlqvist’s circle lands, threatening to erase his hard-won progress. In a furious moment, Emil Nervander reminds Cygnaeus and Bergbom that they “hired” Aleksis to create Finnish literature, and now they are leaving him to languish in a mental hospital.

In 1872, Emil and Aleksis’ brother arrive to retrieve the writer from the hospital. The doctor cautions that Aleksis is not mad in the usual sense, but weakened by typhoid fever and years of heavy drinking. The summer brings a fragile renewal as Aleksis rests in his brother’s Tuusula home, finds himself again among the pines and streams, and climbs a rock to survey the circle of the world. The film closes with a nod to resilience, quoting the poem Squirrel’s Song from The Seven Brothers as the world turns on, and Aleksis’ stubborn, stubborn voice lingers in the Finnish literary imagination. Each memory—of friendship, love, struggle, and art—persists as a testament to a man who helped birth a language, a culture, and a country’s own stage.

they “hired” Aleksis to create Finnish literature, and now they are abandoning him to a mental hospital.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:36