RISTO JARVA’S LONG-UNSEEN FINNISH POP ART SCI-FI FEATURE “TIME OF ROSES” (1969) AVAILABLE THIS MONTH ON BLU-RAY FROM DEAF CROCODILE FILMS
New 4K restoration completed in collaboration with the Risto Jarva Association, available on Blu-ray for the first time in the U.S.
AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW FROM VINEGAR SYNDROME — SHIPS LATE APRIL
Available this month on Blu-ray — for the first time in the U.S. — from Deaf Crocodile Films, in collaboration with the Risto Jarva Association, is a new 4K restoration of Finnish director Risto Jarva’s 1969 Pop Art / Sci-Fi thriller TIME OF ROSES (RUUSUJEN AIKA). Set in a dystopian world of gleaming white towers, Sony video monitors, and inflatable furniture where the beautiful inhabitants all dress as Edie Sedgwick-like pixie sprites or medieval page boys out of LOGAN’S RUN, the film follows a historian of late 20th Century culture (played by Arto Tuominen) researching the mysterious death of a free-spirited erotic model from that time. In a VERTIGO-like twist, he hires the model’s exact double, an earthy, uninhibited engineer named Kisse (actress Ritva Vepsä, playing both parts) to recreate the model’s death for a TV program. Jarva was one of Finland’s most acclaimed fiction filmmakers and documentarians before he was tragically killed in an auto accident returning from the premiere of his latest film in 1977. Deaf Crocodile will release TIME OF ROSES on Blu-ray via partner Vinegar Syndrome, available now for pre-order in both limited edition slipcover and standard editions: https://vinegarsyndrome.com/products/time-of-roses
“For me, Time of Roses is the child of 1968 par excellence. No other film in Finland is so linked to the events of the crazy year, even though it is a science fiction film set forty-four years later,” observes author and filmmaker Ville Suhonen of the Risto Jarva Association. “What fascinates me especially about Time of Roses is how the archives of a dead person can be used to create a complete picture of an era. And when coupled with a plausible futurological vision, the overall result is a rich kaleidoscope, a rarity in world cinema.”
- RISTO JARVA, TYÖTOVERINI (RISTO JARVA, MY COLLEAGUE), 1984, 59
min., dir. Antti Peippo – a rarely-seen Finnish TV documentary featuring
archival interview footage of Jarva and clips from his films. - Two of Jarva’s brilliant, unconventional short films from the 1960s: his
wildly satirical deconstruction of TV advertising, “Pakasteet” (Frozen
Foods), 1969, 15 min. , and his Mod / Pop Art-influenced documentary
“Computers Serve” (Tietokoneet palvelevat), 1968, 14 min.. (Both in
Finnish with English subtitles.) - Deleted scene and original song “Pääskytorni” cut from TIME OF ROSES.
- Original trailer
- New commentary by film critic, professor and programmer Olaf Möller.
- New essay by filmmaker and critic Ville Suhonen of the Risto Jarva
Association. - Newly translated extracts from Risto Jarva’s writings on TIME OF ROSES.
- Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion.
Synopsis:
TIME OF ROSES (RUUSUJEN AIKA), 1969, Finland, 106 min. Finnish director Risto Jarva’s fascinating, futuristic, sci-fi mystery is set in a dystopian, Pop Art-designed world of gleaming white towers, Sony video monitors, and inflatable furniture where the beautiful inhabitants all dress as Edie Sedgwick-like pixie sprites or medieval page boys out of LOGAN’S RUN. A historian of late 20th Century culture – “before class boundaries were abolished” – named Raimo (Arto Tuominen) is researching the death of a free-spirited erotic model from that period named Saara (Ritva Vepsä) who died under mysterious circumstances. Raimo finds Saara’s identical double — an earthy, uninhibited engineer named Kisse (also played by Vepsä) — and tries to convince her to re-enact Saara’s life and death for TV. Long unavailable, Jarva’s fabulously quirky vision of Future World, with its fragmented and abstract political conversations and semi-orgies (all waving hands and sitar music!) would have delighted both Andy Warhol and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. For this new release, TIME OF ROSES has been scanned from the original 35mm camera negative for this restoration by Deaf Crocodile, in collaboration with the Risto Jarva Association and KAVI – Finnish National Audiovisual Institute. In Finnish with English subtitles.
