The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki
Production
Budget
$1 200 000
Box office
$562 537
Director
Actors
Jarkko Lahti, Oona Airola, Eero Milonoff, Joanna Haartti, Esko Barquero, Elma Milonoff, Leimu Leisti, Hilma Milonoff, Olli Rahkonen, Joonas Saartamo
All actors and roles (10)
All actors and roles (10)
Scenario
Producer
Jussi Rantamäki
Camera operator
J-P Passi
Composer
Miika Snåre
Artist
Kari Kankaanpää
Audition
Anastasia Lobkovski
Editing
Jussi Rautaniemi
Whole Team (35)
Whole Team (35)
Short description
Summer 1962 and Olli Mäki has a shot at the world championship title in featherweight boxing. From the Finnish countryside to the bright lights of Helsinki, everything has been prepared for his fame and fortune. All Olli has to do is lose weight and concentrate. But there is a problem – he has fallen in love with Raija.
What's left behind the scenes
- In 2011, director Juho Kuosmanen attended a play about boxer Olli Mäki at a theater in Kokkola, Finland. By chance, Mäki himself was in the audience that evening. After the performance, theater director Jarkko Lahti had his picture taken with the boxer. Kuosmanen then said that if he ever made a film about Mäki, he would cast Lahti in the leading role. Lahti took this seriously, began training in boxing, and even fought in several amateur bouts (losing each one), thereby proving that he could indeed play Mäki.
- The film was shot entirely on 16mm black-and-white Kodak film.
- At the end of the film, the main characters played by Jarkko Lahti and Una Airola go to the harbor and encounter an elderly couple. The latter were played by the real Ippo Mäki and Raija Mäki.
- Director Juho Kuosmanen's own apartment served as Alisa Aska's apartment.
- Elisa Aska's apartment was provided by the apartment of director Juho Kuosmanen.
- At the end of the film, the main characters, played by Jarkko Lähde and Uuna Airola, walk to the harbor and encounter an elderly man and woman. The roles of the latter were played by the real Olli Mäki and Raija Mäki.
- In 2011, director Juho Kuosmanen visited a theater in Kokkola, Finland, for a production about the boxer Ippo Mäki. As it happened, Mäki himself was among the audience that evening. After the performance, the theater director, Jarkko Lahti, took a photo with the boxer. Kuosmanen remarked then that if he ever made a film about Mäki, he would cast Lahti in the lead role. Lahti took this seriously, began boxing, and even fought several amateur bouts (losing every single one), thereby proving that he could truly play Mäki.
- Director Juho Kuosmanen, producer Jussi Lohijoki, and actors Jarkko Lahti and Una Airola—not to mention Ippo Mäki himself, whom Lahti portrayed—are all natives of the city of Kokkola.
- Director Juho Kuosmanen, producer Jussi Lohijoki, and actors Jarkko Lahti and Una Airola – not to mention Olli Mäki himself, whom Lahti portrayed – all hail from the city of Kokkola.
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Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
