06/08/2013 - Best-grossing film in Finland in 2013, the comedy by Finnish director Johanna Vuoksenmaa becomes the fifth Finnish production in 25 years to exceed 400,000 admissions in Finland

Finnish director Johanna Vuoksenmaa’s comedy, 21 Ways to Ruin a Marriage [+see also:
trailer
film profile],is not only the best-grossing 2013 release in Finnish cinemas, it has also become the fifth Finnish feature in 25 years to exceed 400,000 admissions at home.

Launched on February 8 by Nordisk Film Finland, the €1.2 million production joined the exclusive club of local chartbusters last month, which also includes Pekka Parikka’s The Winter War (1989), Olli Saarela’s Ambush (1999), Aleksi Mäkelä’s Bad Boys [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2003) and Matti: Hell Is for Heroes [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2006), while still in the Top 20 list.

Scripted by Vuoksenmaa, produced by Riina Hyytiä for Dionysos Film, and starring Armi Toivanen, Essi Hellén, Aku Hirviniemi and Riku Nieminen, 21 Ways to Ruin a Marriage follows a young woman, Sanna, who after extensive studies interviewing married couples has concluded that “divorce is a natural and probable consequence of falling in love.”

Accordingly she had decided to remain single. Marriage is a business agreement, love and sex are two different things of which she prefers the latter, in an intoxicated state, if possible. That is until Aleksi comes into her life, and her world of theories is suddenly about to be turned upside down.

Finnish-Swedish sales agency, The Yellow Affair, handles international distribution for 21 Ways to Ruin a Marriage, which is Vuoksenmaa’s fourth movie – her Upswing (2003) garnered her a Jussi, Finland’s national film prize, for Best Feature. She also directed the award-winning television series Click Me and is currently working on the second season.