Matti

Matti is a fictionalized drama about a man who loves ski-jumping so much that he rises to the top of his game and becomes the best in the world. But the fact that he jumps like an eagle flies, does not mean that he cannot crash-land in everyday life. Matti stumbles, falls and hurts himself time after time but miraculously struggles back to his feet after every episode – and soon is ready for another foolhardy and pre-doomed leap.

The movie cruises back and forth in time from the mid-eighties to present day. At the peak of his career the ski-jumper is transformed into an entertainment artist and the publicity spotlight illuminates the underside of his public role more and more frequently. The Matti of the movie provides a commentary on his own life but the format does not offer him the benefit of hindsight – so spectators can form their own opinions about Matti's trajectory over time. The road from nationally adulated athlete to grubby tabloid regular is basically a tragic story. But not even the real Matti Nykänen himself can – or will – deny the comic aspects of his various mishaps. "I have often hoped that I could be a normal John Doe – and that people would treat me as one. But I guess that I set my goals above average in my athletic life. And I guess I will have to see out that role to the end." (Matti Nykänen)

As a ski-jumper, Matti Nykänen won everything possible during his career – and more: four Olympic gold medals, seven World Championship titles, four World Cup tour championships and 46 individual World Cup circuit victories. Because of his unbeaten athletic achievements, Nykänen became a revered hero world-wide, and one whose scandalous escapades in both his private and professional lives were hushed up for a long time. Only after his athletic career came to an end, the other side of the hero emerged into public view in all of its vulgarity: an alcohol dependency, repeated marital problems, petty crime, uncontrolled acts of violence with knives and fists, money hungry hangers-on... Wherever Matti Nykänen roams, drama and catastrophe dog his tracks. And everything is there in the headlines the following day. (forgalmazó hivatalos szövege)