| M/S Romantic | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Black comedy Drama |
| Created by | Jani Volanen Tommi Korpela |
| Written by | Jani Volanen Tommi Korpela |
| Directed by | Jani Volanen |
| Starring | Hannu-Pekka Björkman Anna Paavilainen Antti Luusuaniemi Antti Tuomas Heikkinen Annika Aapalahti Sami Ahonen Lotta Kaihua Joel Hirvonen Santeri Kinnunen Iivo Tuuri Vilma Sippola Amos Brotherus Tommi Korpela Petteri Pennilä Pirjo Lonka Elena Leeve Miila Virtanen Anna-Sofia Tuominen Tomi Salmela Milla Palin |
| Country of origin | Finland |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Marko Talli, Olli Haikka |
| Cinematography | Teppo Högman |
| Editor | Jussi Rautaniemi |
| Running time | 59–73 minutes |
| Production company | Yellow Film & TV |
| Original release | |
| Network | Yle TV1 Yle Areena |
| Release | 24 February – 17 March 2019 |
M/S Romantic is a Finnish four-part black comedy miniseries created by Jani Volanen and Tommi Korpela. Volanen directed the series alone. The four-part M/S Romantic depicts one day aboard a cruise ship traveling between Helsinki and Stockholm. The series aired on Yle TV1 from 24 February to 17 March 2019, and all episodes were simultaneously released on the streaming service Yle Areena on 24 February.
The first episode was watched by 574,000 people on television and had over 350,000 views on Yle Areena by 6 March 2019. [1] M/S Romantic won the 2019 Golden Venla for Best Drama Series. Additionally, Jani Volanen received the Best Director Venla, Volanen and Korpela jointly won Best Writer Venlas, and Hannu-Pekka Björkman was awarded Best Actor. [2]
The series' budget was €1,221,058, of which €100,000 was funded by the Finnish Film Foundation. [3]
The series follows six intertwined stories taking place on a cruise ship over one day between Helsinki and Stockholm. The manic cruise director Joakim "Jocke" Stenroos (Hannu-Pekka Björkman) returns to work prematurely after the birth of his fourth child, trying to keep demanding passengers satisfied and the ship in perfect order. His task proves difficult as he clashes with crew members, including the apathetic cruise hostess Jenna (Anna Paavilainen) and cynical pub troubadour Mike (Tomi Salmela).
Other storylines include bachelor friends Kaide (Antti Luusuaniemi) and Emppu (Antti Tuomas Heikkinen) hunting for one-night stands, shy entrepreneur Matias (Petteri Pennilä) seeking love during a speed dating event, and Veli Kallio (Santeri Kinnunen) taking his six-year-old nephew Samu (Iivo Tuuri) on a "men's trip." Teenagers Annika (Vilma Sippola) and Kaapo (Amos Brotherus) seek alcohol and freedom aboard, while newlyweds Pike (Annika Aapalahti) and Jamo (Sami Ahonen) deal with tensions, exacerbated by attempts from singer Gusu (Tommi Korpela) to seduce Pike. [4]
Helsingin Sanomat's Laura Kytölä praised the series for capturing Finnishness with dark undertones, comparing it to Jani Volanen's earlier works, Ihmebantu (2009) and Häiriötekijä (2013, 2015). She commended the series' weaving of six storylines into a cohesive narrative. [5]
M/S Romantic at IMDb