Eight Deadly Shots

Eight Deadly Shots
Poster
FinnishKahdeksan surmanluotia
Written byMikko Niskanen[1]
Directed byMikko Niskanen[1]
StarringMikko Niskanen[1]
Country of originFinland
Original languageFinnish
Production
ProducerMikko Niskanen[1]
Running time316 minutes (miniseries)[2]
Original release
NetworkYleisradio
Release29 March (1972-03-29) –
5 April 1972 (1972-04-05)[3]
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Eight Deadly Shots (also known as Eight Fatal Shots;[4] Finnish: Kahdeksan surmanluotia) is a Finnish drama film directed, written, produced by and starring Mikko Niskanen.[1] Originally released as a four-part, five-hour miniseries in spring 1972,[2] it was edited into a 145-minute movie by Jörn Donner.[1][5] The film has generally been called Niskanen's "magnum opus".[6]

The film was inspired by a 7 March 1969 mass shooting incident in Pihtipudas, Finland, in which a smallholder shot and killed four armed policemen who had come to calm him down after he drove his family out of the house in a drunken rage. The film focuses on depicting a fictionalised chain of events leading up to the killings, as imagined by director Niskanen, who personally knew the region where the events took place. The names of the characters were changed.

The production of the film experienced many setbacks. The mass shooting incident was still fresh in the memory and many strongly condemned the film project.[6] In connection with the making of the film, there was almost a life-threatening situation when a bullet almost hit the cinematographer during a gun shooting scene.[7] Both professional and amateur actors were used. Issues with the schedule and budget led executives at Yleisradio to seriously consider calling off the production, but this was averted.[6][7][8]

In 2018, the film was selected as part of Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project with the aim of reaching international distribution as a restored 35 mm screening copy and a digital 4K copy.[9]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Kahdeksan surmanluotia". Elonet.
  2. ^ a b "Kahdeksan surmanluotia täytyisi pelastaa yleisölle". Helsingin Sanomat. (subscription required)
  3. ^ "Episode List". IMDb.
  4. ^ "Kahdeksan surmanluotia". IMDb.
  5. ^ "Surmanluodit viuhuvat tänään Bio Rexissä". Helsingin Sanomat. (subscription required)
  6. ^ a b c Steffansson, Marjo (10 June 2017). "MIKON MATKASSA XI: Kahdeksan surmanluotia osa 3. Vastatuulesta ylämäkeen". Äänekosken Kaupunkisanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference seura was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Lappalainen, Marja-Liisa: "Ei mikään cowboy-tarina". Ilta-Sanomat, 28.2.2009, p. 21.
  9. ^ "Mikko Niskasen Kahdeksan surmanluotia levitetään maailmalle osana Oscar-palkitun ohjaajan Martin Scorsesen jättihanketta". Yle (in Finnish). 17 June 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2022.