Juha (also known as Love Along a River)[1] is a 1956 Finnish drama film produced, written, and directed by Toivo Särkkä.

The film is based on a 1911 novel Juha by Juhani Aho, telling the story of the farm host Juha and his young wife Marja, whose usual everyday life is disrupted when a Karelian traveling merchant arrives and starts seducing the passionate Marja.

[2][3][4] In a farm located in Finland during the time of Swedish rule, the strong and kind-hearted Juha (Eino Kaipainen) lives with his young and beautiful wife Marja (Elina Pohjanpää).

One day, Shemeikka of Uhtua (Veikko Uusimäki), a merchant traveler from the White Karelia, arrives to visit Juha's house, paying attention to his young wife, and stays the night.

However, Juha gets angry with his own mother and drives her away, happily taking his beloved Marja back home.

Wondering about her disappearance, Shemeikka hears about her return and goes to receive her, but is surprised to see that Marja did not come alone but with Juha.

Mentally beaten, Juha leaves to row his boat home, accompanied by Marja and her child.

They arrive at the upper reaches of the rapids, where Juha leaves Marja with her child in order to be able to carry the boat to clearer waters.

Marja, who is following the situation from the river bank, is horrified when she sees that a boat plunges into the waves and Juha drowns.

As the subject of his first color film, he initially considered a 1944 novel Som tusen liljor by Waldemar Nyman and then a 1913 short story "Hilja the Milkmaid" by Johannes Linnankoski.

[1] In addition to color, Juha was the first Finnish feature film to be shot with anamorphic optics, using the AgaScope method borrowed from Sweden.

Most of Juha's outdoor scenes were shot in Kuusamo, as in Nyrki Tapiovaara's version 20 years earlier.

[1] Elsa Sylvestersson, ballet dancer of the Finnish National Opera, assisted in the party scene at Shemeikka's house, filmed in the studio of Suomen Filmiteollisuus.