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Jörn (Johan) Donner (1933- ) | |
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Prolific Finland-Swedish writer, film director, actor, producer, politician. Donner's novel ISÄ JA POIKA (1985) won the Finlandia Award for Literature. As a film director Donner built his work on the European art film rather than the national tradition. His first four directorial efforts were made in Sweden. Several of Donner's novels deal with conflicts between different generation inside middle-class families. He has been a member of both the Finnish and the European parliament. --"He sometimes thought about death. Did it come perhaps like a color or a coldness, or in one's sleep at night. His life was not insured, his wife had often asked him to take her into consideration. If he had a heart attack, a cerebral hemorrhage or something else, was there really any point in thinking of others? They had the villa, after all, and a little money. They did not have him, but he was merely someone who came and went." (from 'Midsummer Eve,' 1961) Jörn Donner was born in Helsinki to wealthy Swedish-speaking parents of German descent. His father was Karl (Kai) Reinhold Donner (1888-1935), a linguist and lecturer at the University of Helsinki, and mother Margareta (Greta) von Bonsdorff. At the Swedish Lyceum in Helsinki Donner showed his independence and received a warning due to his article which was printed at the school magazine Kamraten. He was also nearly dismissed from the school. Turning against his background, Donner coedited the radical journal Arena (1951-54) with the writer Christer Kihlman and contributed to the communist-dominated newspaper Vapaa Sana. In 1954 he married the Swedish writer Inga-Brit Wik; they divorced in 1962. Later Wik has described their marriage in her novels. Donner married in 1974 Jeanette Bonnier; they divorced in 1988. In 1995 Donner married the journalist Bitte Westerlund; they had two children. Donner has also four children from his previous relationships. Donner graduated in 1959 from the University of Helsinki, where he studied under Jan-Magnus Jansson and Georg Henrik von Wright. Already at that time Donner had gained reputation as a writer, journalist, and film critic. For three years he edited the literary and political periodical Arena. His frieds included such older writers as Atos Wirtanen, Raoul Palmgren, Hagar Olsson, Elmer Diktonius, and Gunnar Bjärling. Donner's first book, VÄLSIGNADE LIV, appeared in 1951 when he was 18 years old. His early work from Sturm und Drang period attacked the traditions of Swedish-Finnish upper class – a theme which he took again later in the first book book of his family epic, NU MÅSTE DU (1974), a reminiscent of John Galsworthy's novel The Forsyte Saga. In 1959 Donner began his service in hospital, assigned there as a conscientious objector, and published his diary, PÅ ET SJUKHUS, in 1960. Donner's travels in the 1960s in Europe produced several travel books, which combined journalism and intimate observations with sharp literary style. He had also co-founded the Finnish Film Archive in 1957 and established his own production company in the 1960. Throughout the 1960s and also later Donner wrote columns for the liberal Hufvudstadsbladet, Finland's largest Swedish paper. His journalistic works has been published in all the major newspapers and magazines, among them Helsingin Sanomat, Aamulehti, and Suomen Kuvalehti. Donner's numerous journeys in Europe produced such political travel books as RAPPORT FRÅN BERLIN (1958, Report from Berlin), RAPPORT FRÅN DONAU (1962), VÄRDSBOKEN (1968), and SVERIGEBOKEN (1973). In West-Berlin Donner stayed at Hotel Pensionat at Kurfürstendamm. His book on Berlin was published in the United States with the foreword by Stephen Spender. In 1961 Donner moved to Sweden, where he became a film critic for a leading Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. Next year he published critical study of director Ingmar Bergman, DJÄVULENS ANSIKTE (tr. The Personal Vision of Ingmar Bergman), and directed his first film, A Sunday in September in 1963, which won a special prize at the Venice Film Festival. Donner, who lived for a time with Harriet Andersson, made five films with her. TÄÄLLÄ ALKAA SEIKKAILU (1965, Adventure Starts Here) showed the influence of Antonioni. Harriet Andersson, also one of Ingmar Bergman's favorite actressess and his life companion for a period, played a Swedish fashion designer who has an affair with a Finnish architect (Matti Oravisto). Dubbing, by modern standards, is rather clumsy in this introvert film, which uses much inner monologues. Helsinki is portrayed as a state of mind. Donner interprets freshly the landscape of the city, hiding the fact that Helsinki has more Eastern European flavour than other Nordic capitals. Donner returned to Finland in 1967. In the same year he published NYA BOKEN OM VÅRT LAND, a sharp analysis of his native land, in which the title ironically referred to Zacharias Topelius's (1818-1898) popular and patriotic book Boken of vårt land (1875). This work was issued on the fiftieth anniversary of Finland's independence, and recommended a plan for a competitive and capitalistic society. Donner's first film in Finland, Black on White (1968), was about a salesman (Jörn Donnner) and his relationship to a young girl (Kristiina Halkola). "The arena of conflict here, as in Donner's subsequent films, is the bed, whosesoever it might be. The point of departure is a family portrait: an ideal image of happiness, a miniature of affluent Finland. The protagonist borders on burnout, and the camera follows the drama of the other disintegrating characters and relationships as if in a laboratory experiment." (Peter von Bagh in Drifting Shadows, 1999) Donner parodied the sexual boldness of his films in Portraits of Women (1969), in which he played a pornofilm producer. Fuck Off!! – Images of Finland (1970) was a documentary which focused on people living on the margins of the society, poor, and politically active workers. A man cannot be raped (1978) was based on Märta Tikkanen's novel. The protagonist is a woman who has been raped and who in turn makes careful plans to revenge it, turning the roles of a victim and culprit upside-down. Donner's talents as administrator were noted when he worked as the head of the Swedish Film Institute and the Finnish Film Foundation in the 1970s and '80s. In Sweden Donner produced among others Ingmar Bergman's Oscar awarded film Fanny och Alexander/Fanny and Alexander (1982). Donner won an Oscar for producing the film. Nu måste du, dealing with the great firm United Metals, opened Donner's series of novels about the fate of a Finland-Swedish industrial dynasty. Donner's dissection of the Swedish middle class is merciless. The saga begins from the eve of the World War II. Gabriel Berggren, the central figure, is a man of humble origins, but he gains money and power. In ANGELAS KRIG (1976) and ANGELA OCH KÄRLEKEN (1981) Donner focused on a woman, Angela, and her wartime affair with a German officer, who turns out to be bisexual. Other novels in this cycle include JAKOB OCH FRIHETEN (1978), which introduced Angela's younger brother Jakob who is involved with Soviet agents in cold-war Berlin. GABRIELS DAG (1982), FAR OCH SON (1985), and FRIHETENS FÅNGAR (1988), which revolves around the plan of Gabriel Berggren's successor to rationalize and dehumanize the old firm. Angela ja ajan tuulet (1999, Angela and the winds of time), a television series in 12 parts, was based on Donner's novels Nyt sinun täytyy, Angelan sota, Jaakob ja kylmä rauha, and Angela ja rakkaus. Far och son is regarded as the artistic highpoint of the series thus far. In the work a novel manuscript, left behind by the late Jakob, is read and interpreted by the narrator, who in turn sets out in search of his own father. The series ended in 2001 with HJÄRTAT ÄR EN SVEKFULL VÄN. The protagonist is a former bank director, Karl Oder, who says that he represents the generation of losers. Oder meets Werner Lindberg, an old journalist, through whom the story plunges into power struggles around President Kekkonen, and the peculiar relationship between Finland and the Soviet Union. Again Donner depicts high level intrigues, power, and politics, and his own experiences in politics gives the work much credibility. The literature critic Pekka Tarkka saw that Donner had adopted in his narrative style conventions of television series, and compared it to Balzac's romantic exaggeration, which attracted readers of serialized stories published in newspapers. "Donnerin romaanin sovinnaiset vuorosanat, merkilliset enteet ja haudantakaiset äänet noudattelevat televisioyleisön tottumuksia samaan tapaan kuin Balzacin romanttinen liioittelu houkutteli sanomalehtien jatkokertomusten lukijoita." (Helsingin Sanomat, September 13, 2001) From the 1960s Donner has published several autobiographical books, recording his attitudes and views of the world. However, Donner has said that in his novels he never managed to create a real alter ego. "In my books I'm like a constantly changing kaleidoscope," he wrote in his book of memoir, LIVSBILDER (2004). In SOMMAR AV KÄRLEK OCH SORG (1971) Donner discussed his rejection of his leftist phase. Author's self-analysis, combined with explorations into current social and political issues, continued in JAG, J.J.D. (1980) and VARFÖR FINNS JAG TILL (1998). Donner has also introduced figures from political life into his narratives. In PRESIDENTEN (1986) the republic's long-time strong leader, Urho Kekkonen (1900-1986), is seen through the eyes of one of his mistresses. Donner has written most of his works in Swedish. Because of the skill with which he moves through the minefields of patrician intrigue, industry, and finance, Donner has been called a Finland-Swedish Balzac. Several of his books have been translated by the writer and lawyer Jukka Kemppinen. Donner has also been active in politics. He has been representative of the middle-of-the-road Swedish People's Party in Finland's parliament. In the 1990s he was a diplomat – Consul General – in Los Angeles and was elected to the European Parliament, representing Social Democrats. Against all expectations, Donner was not elected to the parliament in 2003, this time trying to make a comeback on the list of the Swedish People's Party. The opposition Center Party won the election and Donner joined in protest the Social Democratic Party. Following his father's footsteps, Donner made several journeys from 2003 to Siberia. The account of his experiences, complemented by excerpts from the diaries of his father, was published in 2006 under the title I MIN FARS FOTSPÅR. Donner has also translated and edited works from such authors as Paavo Haavikko (Privata angelägenheter, 1966; Tala, svara, lärä, 1975) och Elmer Diktonius (Ringar i stubben, 1954; Kirjaimia ja kirjavia, 1956). Among Donner's long-time writing projects have been a book about Middle-East and a portrait of the writer Elmer Diktonius, whom he knew in the 1950s. The biography, as well-researched as a doctoral dissertation, was finished in 2007. Other works include the long-waited and updated study of the director Ingmar Bergman, which came out in 2009. For further reading: Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, vol 1, ed. by Steven R. Serafin (1999); A History of Finland's Literature, ed. by George C. Schoolfield (1998); A Way to Measure Time, ed. by Bo Carpelan et al. (1992); 'Ett folk som blött' by Johan Wrede, in Den Svenska Litteraturen, vol. 6 (1990); 'Jörn Donner – Action Man' by E. Lehtola in Books from Finland, 20, pp. 10-13 (1986); Jörn Donners skönlitterära produktion i finländsk och rikssvensk press 1951-1981 by Kaj Fredrik Eklund (1983); Jag Jörn Johan Donner, född den 5 februari 1933 i Helsingfors by Jörn Donner (1980); Mellan hammaren och städet by Sven Willner (1974); 'The Postwar Novel of Swedish Finnish' by G.C. Schoolfield in Scandinavian Studies, 34, pp. 85-110 (1962) Selected works:
Selected films (as writer, actor, director, or producer):
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