Vihtori ja Klaara 1939

Vihtori Vuorenkaiku is a newly-rich former working-class man who finds himself navigating a home where his wife, Klaara Vuorenkaiku, wants to live a life befitting her new standing—even to the point of attending the opera—while his own interests lie elsewhere. Klaara’s behavior isn’t always typical of her elevated status: when anger flares, she hurls pots and plates at him, a domestic turbulence that hints at the comic tensions to come.

The following day, after Vihtori skips the opera, he speaks on the phone with his Ritva Vuorenkaiku, whom his wife tolerates as a kind of “darling” in the mix of muddled loyalties. Meanwhile Klaara phones Vihtori to share a plan: she wants to open a cosmetics shop. Their daughter, Vappu Vuorenkaiku, visits Vihtori’s office to announce she will marry Petteri. Vihtori is unsure about Petteri as a son-in-law, but Klaara grows warmer to the idea once she learns his surname carries a prestigious “von” prefix, a detail that stirs her imagination about social status. That night, Vihtori has a vivid dream in which Klaara chases him through the Helsinki streets, wielding a rolling pin, a surreal image that captures the fragility of their newly negotiated positions.

The next day unfolds with a string of jewellery mishaps. Vihtori buys an expensive piece as a nameday gift for Ritva, but in his haste he forgets to pay. The jewellery ends up in Klaara’s hands, and she is touched that her husband remembered Ritva’s nameday; she even notes that her middle name is Ritva. Vappu and Petteri then find themselves in trouble with the police for speeding, and Vihtori himself is questioned at the police station over the unpaid jewellery. He resolves the matter with the jewellery shop manager, clearing the tension in the short term. Klaara learns about the connection between Vihtori and Ritva and storms Ritva’s apartment, where Petteri and Vihtori hide under the bed. When Petteri emerges, Klaara mistakes him for having a relationship with Ritva, deepening the family uproar. Yet Vihtori begins to see Petteri as a potentially suitable match for Vappu, reshaping his own view of the family’s future.

Ritva helps smooth things over, convincing Klaara and Vappu of Petteri’s innocence. Ritva then sells her cosmetics store to Klaara as she prepares to marry her fiancé, Klasu Tullari, and move away from Finland. Vihtori, who had already bought the cosmetics shop for Ritva, ends up buying it again for Klaara, tying the threads of ownership back to the matriarch of the household. Petteri and Ritva decide to teach Vappu a lesson, with Petteri pretending indifference toward Vappu for a moment before the couple reconciles.

In the final comic turn, Klaara’s outburst leaves Vihtori in hospital after a heavy pot is dropped on his head. While recovering, he receives a letter and a wedding photograph from Ritva. Klaara also reads the letter and learns that Ritva Vuorenkaiku is Vihtori’s daughter, a revelation that softens her view of the shared history and adds a poignant, unexpected note to the family’s evolving story.