Matti Nykänen - The Legend

The greatest ski jumper of all time ends up stripping in a shady bar in a small Finnish town. Why did this happen, and how could this fate have been prevented?

In this psychological documentary film Nykänen's life is explored through those who knew him best, including his daughter, mother and sister. What was the national hero like as a father, son and brother? Or as an athlete, singer or schoolmate? This is first time to hear and see stories about Nykänen's childhood.

Matti Nykänen, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion, was internationally dubbed “the Diego Maradona of ski jumping”. He stirred trouble already in the early stages of his career when his unstable behavior and alcohol addiction took over. Physically frail but extremely defiant of authority, he was known for frightening outbursts of rage.

When Nykänen’s idolized sports career ended, his downward spiral escalated, and the former star found himself making a living as a stripping singer. His ever-darkening and alcohol fueled life eventually led him to prison for violent crimes. A regular protagonist in tabloid newspapers, the sports star was eventually reduced to a media-serving caricature and an unpredictable antihero engaged in endless scandals.

This warm and profound documentary film offers an artistic approach that is completely different from anything previously seen about Matti Nykänen. The film reveals new perspectives on Matti Nykänen, his close ones, the media, and the entire nation, examining the life of this controversial superstar with respect and understanding.

  • Olli Laine
    Director
    Priest. Punk. Anarchist. (2019), Homeland Kosovo-Finland (2018), Skolt Rock In Lapland (2010)
  • Olli Laine
    Writer
    Priest. Punk. Anarchist. (2019), Homeland Kosovo-Finland (2018), Skolt Rock In Lapland (2010)
  • Ari Lehikoinen
    Producer
  • Matti Nykänen
    Key Cast
  • Vieno Nykänen
    Key Cast
  • Eveliina Ojala
    Key Cast
  • Päivi Nurminen
    Key Cast
  • Petteri Sveins
    Key Cast
  • Petteri Kauhanen
    Editor
  • Juha Liede
    Graphics and animations
  • Hannu Kettunen
    Cinematographers
  • Antti Tuunanen
    Cinematographers
  • Marcus Lönnqvist
    Colourist
  • Anssi Tamminen
    Sound Designer
  • Tero Vänttinen
    Original Score
  • Maija Roivainen
    Assistant Producer
  • Katja Juutistenaho
    Translator
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Matti Nykänen
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 13 minutes 7 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 25, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    Finland
  • Country of Filming:
    Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland
  • Language:
    English, Finnish, German, Norwegian, Polish, Slovenian, Swedish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Olli Laine

Olli Laine is a documentary director from Helsinki, Finland. He has over 20 years of experience in creating documentary films and television documentary series. Laine is particularly interested in psychology, human behavior, and society - which is evident in his documentaries, whether the subject is life on the margins or fairy-tale superstardom. He considers the documentarian's most important tasks to be understanding their subjects and, on the other hand, increasing understanding among the film's audience.

Director Laine has won numerous awards in Finland (including 3 Golden Venla Awards and the Finnish Grand Prize for Journalism), Europe, and the United States. His documentary "Skolt Rock in Lapland" won first prize at the prestigious Chicago International Children's Film Festival (CICFF).

Olli Laine's latest film tells the tragic story of Finnish superstar Matti Nykänen. As a 10-year-old boy in 1987, Laine drew a comic strip about ski jumper Nykänen's first major crisis. Now, in 2024, he has completed a touching and intense documentary film about the same person.

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Director Statement

My first memory of the world's best ski jumper, Matti Nykänen, is from 1982. He was jumping in the legendary and incredibly foggy Holmenkollen World Championships in Oslo, Norway. I was a 5-year-old boy watching the competition with my whole family on our black-and-white television. Nykänen won, and suddenly he was an international superstar who made us all so proud! While making this documentary film, I realized that this was precisely the competition that permanently changed Nykänen's life.

I met Matti Nykänen in real life for the first time in 1985, when I was eight years old and he was competing in my hometown, Kajaani, Finland. As expected, he won, and after the competition, I asked him for an autograph. He was a kind and smiling young man.

A couple of years later, Nykänen was kicked out of the Finnish Ski Jump Team during the biggest competition event of the year, the Four Hills Tournament in Germany and Austria. The reason was his aggressive and unstable behavior. As a kid, I was intrigued by this episode. I drew a comic strip inspired by those events. You can find that old comic strip from 1987 in attached still photos; the title is "Mäkihyppy," which means "Ski Jumping" in Finnish.

After Matti Nykänen's tragic death in 2019, I thought that his life story should be told in a serious and interesting way. He was often a controversial celebrity, mostly in tabloids. I wanted to explore his life with a different perspective: instead of pointing a finger, I wanted to understand him and his choices. Instead of tabloid-style cheap aesthetics, I wanted to create an ambitious and artistic documentary film.