The Manila Rope

War, Drama · 1976

Manillaköysi is a cult status holding TV-movie adaptation of the satirical war novel by Veijo Meri. Manillaköysi has an endless list of classic one-liners, but it is still not based on cheap laughs or anything like that. The whole humouristic aspect of it comes from describing the absurdity of war, and the whole military system, by looking it with the eyes of a simple man, who's thrown into it, and who simply does not give a rats ass of it all. The tone of it is not overly preachy or moralizing. If I would have to describe it with one word, it would be: unglamourizing. The main point of Manillaköysi is pretty much compressed in one of the most famous quotes of it: There is nothing supernatural about war, it is just work like anything else.

Starring

Heikki Valpola, Erkki Pajala, Raimo Hartzell, Vesa Mäkelä, Veli-Matti Saikkonen, Martti Kuningas, Veli-Matti Saikkonen, Esko Hukkanen, Veijo Meri, Hannu Kahakorpi

Director

Veli-Matti Saikkonen