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Reviews
Viu-hah hah-taja (1974)
My childhood favourite
For some strange reason, this movie ranks in the top ten of movies all-time for me. When I was ten years old or so, I considered it the best movie ever. Now, grown up, I see how one could be embarrassed by this movie, but it still has its charm for me. Me feelings tell me to rate this 10/10, my critical intellect awards 4/10; 7/10 is therefore a good compromise.
It is not just my own perception of this movie that is split: the movie itself is split. There are several extremely good ideas, and some working political satire, but it is mixed with Spede's trademark barely-competent-by-accident film making. At the same time, the innocence of the storytelling and film-making is touching, and I'm sure one reason why my inner child loves this movie.
Viu-hah-hah-taja has several threads that mix to create a whole: on the one hand, there are the incompetent aliens who pose as goofy Finns, one the other hand, there is the caricature executive who learns to have fun because the aliens' lost remote control gives him no choice. Mix it with the stereotypical but brilliantly cast absent-minded professor and a few other characters, the soup is ready to cook!
Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning (2005)
Amateur film that outdoes well known TV/film scifi parody movies
So Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning is an amateur production. There isn't much in the film that betrays this even most of the acting would fail to put a Hollywood B production into shame, and there are some brilliant cases of casting, and even a couple of superb actors.
In the Pirkinning is above all an action-adventure film with seemingly big-budget special effects except that the special effects budget is dirt cheap. It is also a fairly well working comedy of the darker kind, with a touch of political satire and a heavy dose of teevee science fiction parody.
Oh yeah, and it has scantily clad females on the bridge (but they have an EDGE!).
There's something intangibly Finnish about all Finnish movies, and this one is no exception. I don't know if it is the language, or if it is the people, or if it is the landscape perhaps it is all of them. This movie would look and sound very different had it been produced in just about any other country by people of any other nationality. Bizarrely, it also is, in my opinion, one of the best films ever made in Finland. (I'm sure some other people will disagree.)
The movie is in Finnish. Although some of the jokes rather depend on understanding the Finnish language or the Finnish culture, they are in the minority, and most of the fun is universally understandable. Of course, a loyal teevee scifi fan will find a lot of extra laughs and recognize several subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) references to memorable shows and movies, often with a twist.
In short, In the Pirkinning is Mel Brooks' Spaceballs with actual balls, Finnish style.