Mikko Niskanen

Known for DirectingBorn 1929-01-31Died 1990-11-25Äänekoski, Finland

Mikko Niskanen was a Finnish film director and actor. He was born in Äänekoski, Central Finland in 1929. He was the third of six children, and his father worked as a timber barge pilot. His mother too had a job outside the home, so the children often spent summers with their grandmother in Viitasaari. At the age of 13, Mikko Niskanen started working in timber felling and floating. Two years later he enrolled in a vocational school in Jyväskylä to become a car mechanic. He took a serious interest in amateur theatre and was accepted to study at the Finnish Theatre Academy in Helsinki from 1947 until 1950. He then acted in Jyväskylä and Kuopio theatres until 1954 when he landed an actor's job at the film studios of Suomen Filmiteollisuus in Helsinki. One of his first film roles was in Edvin Laine's The Unknown Soldier (1955). Between 1958 and 1961 Niskanen studied at the Moscow Film School in the Soviet Union. Niskanen's 1962 film The Boys was entered into the 3rd Moscow International Film Festival. He continued his directing career focusing on themes such as rural life and youth. His second breakthrough was Under Your Skin (Käpy selän alla, 1966), a story of two young couples spending a weekend camping in the countryside. The film received six Jussi Awards and was followed by another story about young lovers, Asfalttilampaat (1968). Niskanen's tour de force as both actor and director was the five-hour television drama Eight Deadly Shots which was also released as a 145-minute theatrical version edited by Jörn Donner. Based on a true story from late 1960s Finland, it is a naturalistic drama about a poor farmer struggling to make a living for his family. He gradually becomes a violent alcoholic who goes on killing spree when the police arrive to calm him down. Besides directing, Niskanen gave a powerful and intense performance in the leading role. The film, like many of Niskanen's works were shot on locations around his home province north of Jyväskylä. Mikko Niskanen died of cancer at the age of 61.Read more

Movies & web series

Eight Deadly Shots

Ihmisiä elämän pohjalla

Kahden ladun poikki

Köyhä laulaja

Sodan ja rauhan miehet

Autuas eversti

1918

Eight Deadly Shots

Hamsterit

Elämän vonkamies

The Unknown Soldier

Nuoruuteni savotat

Pulakapina

Herra sotaministeri

The Boys

Here, Beneath the North Star

Kaunis Kaarina

Hän varasti elämän

Isaskar Keturin ihmeelliset seikkailut

Gotta Run!

Girl of Finland

Älä nuolase…

Commando Assault

Hopeaa rajan takaa

Skin, Skin

The Age of Iron

Asfalttilampaat

Syksyllä kaikki on toisin

Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta

Pekka ja Pätkä Suezilla

Mona ja palavan rakkauden aika

Tähtisilmä

Ryysyrannan Jooseppi

Tanssi yli hautojen

Pekka ja Pätkä sammakkomiehinä

Verta käsissämme

Naiset, jotka minulle annoit

Juha

Elokuva jalostavasta rakkaudesta

Kyläkauppa

The Accident

17. kesä

Omat koirat purivat