Pohjantähteet

Well, as a long-time fan of Spede's comedies, especially the black-and-white ones from the sixties and seventies (well, not all of them), I've got to say this is one of the best, or maybe even THE best, Spede-movie ever.

There's a bit more depth in this one as compared to the more straight-forward Uuno-movies, and the dialogue is full of hilarious lines. I've also read that many of the incidents that take place in this movie actually happened at some point to Spede and his film crew, albeit not necessarily during the shooting of a single film. :)

It's also curious that this perhaps the only movie by Spede which has received at least moderate acclaim by the Finnish movie critics.

Arja Saijonmaa's role is also noteworthy, mostly because of the fact the well-known (mostly in Sweden and Finland) singer has very rarely appeared on screen.

Director Paavali Pohja is trying to make a movie.What makes it harder is the dislike between him and the main star Lötjönen, and also the triangle that includes the female lead Merju.Pohjan tähteet (1969) is directed by Ere Kokkonen and produced by Spede Pasanen.The writers are Pasanen, Kokkonen and Loiri.It's the first Spede movie shot in color.This movie has the usual Spede cast.There is Vesa-Matti Loiri playing Paavali Pohja.Simo Salminen plays Törrönen, the cinematographer.Ville-Veikko Salminen plays the part of Igor Lötjönen.The female lead is done by Arja Saijonmaa, who wasn't seen in other Spede movies.Hillevi Lagerstam is Räntäsalo.Director Kokkonen is seen as Pöyhönen.Veikko Sinisalo is seen as Suohullu Pähkä.Pasanen himself plays the producer Sinisanta.This is the first movie where Spede doesn't play one of the leading members.His wife at the time, Pirjo Pasanen, plays Neiti Hiiva.I saw this movie on a DVD yesterday, but I have seen it before.This movie isn't your typical Spede movie.But it doesn't lack in funniness.It's very funny when Pohja is doing a scene in a sauna.He has a hard time directing with a bunch of naked ladies behind her.Also, when Pohja and Lötjönen try to get to Merju's bed, is hilarious.The song, "Alle Lujaa", sang by Salminen, is a classic.It really teaches you to drive a bit slower.Kari Sohlberg won a Jussi award from Best Cinematography.This movie is really worth seeing for Spede fans, why not for others as well.

Many viewers regard this as Pasanen's worst work but I wouldn't say that. The question is more like "if you generally don't like his movies - try this one". The type of humour in this film is not the usual silliness what we too often attribute to Pasanen but this is more a parody of making a Finnish movie - and the result is a masterpiece. Silliness is replaced with a weighty sarcasm.

The film also presents a very good performance by possibly the best Finnish actor ever, Vesa-Matti Loiri. His character was so good parody of the filmmakers of his day that it is told that he unintentionally aggravated some of them but he also apologized. How that sentiment is represented in the film produces some of the best jokes ever Pasanen told with Loiri's mouth.

The film is almost perfect but it also has some really lame, although brief, moments that reduce the overall score. The film can be said to reveal some other level of Pasanen's comical genius - not everything need to be like Uuno.