ABSTRACT
This chapter examines director Risto Jarvas 1975 film, Mies, joka ei osannut sanoa ei and its fictitious portrayal of the Helsinki area of Puu-Vallila. In the film Jarva introduces the viewer to the idyllic neighbourhood of Kivimki, a fictional version of Puu-Vallila that is under threat of being torn down to make space for concrete tower blocks. Risto Jarva was a key director whose politically charged dramas helped to define Finnish New Wave filmmaking in the 1960s. Mies, joka ei osannut sanoa ei marks a turning point in Jarva's career as he moved from social drama to comedy before his untimely death in 1977. The blind man, Aimo and the spectator are all anchored to Kivimki through an awareness of their bodies in motion, and the personal maps that they find embedded on the scenes of the film.
