Populärmusik från Vittula

I have just seen the film, and i loved it! I've read the book and it was a lot better because it had more details, but the film has a certain atmosphere of it's own that is quite magic. The way the story is told is great, and you really get involved with the film. And it is very funny as well! I emmidiately felt the urge to go see the magnificent landscapes in the film, and maybe i will some day. I loved the actors in it, Björn Kellman is always wonderful to watch, but the younger actors were great too. I liked Andreas af Enehjelm (Niila) in particular, he seems to be a very sensitive actor. Let's have more Finnish and Swedish films, the languages are beautiful and the stories go straight to the heart!

The movie came out here in our city before 9 months but only some small cinemas showed it. It wasn't easy to find a cinema so I waited till the DVD was out. I rented the DVD last night and I have to admit that I wanted to watch that movie since over 4 months but never found it at my place. I laughed, I felt disgusted, I had silent moments and maybe even a small tear dropped out of my eye ;). And that is what I expect from a good movie - it has to touch me inside and make me wanting to talk about it. The movie has many raw scenes but at the same time also subtle moments. It is about friendship, become and being a man and follow your dreams - it is raw and poetic! And I saw it today again to get every detail of that wonderful movie.

In the era of limited and underdeveloped means of communication, it is not easy to cope with outside influences as life at home, school and township is handled in a "historical", traditional manner. Life is hard, with lots of manual labour, thin population (but big families) and long distances do not provide versatile diversity... All this was characteristic to rural areas in Sweden where Matti and Niila had to spend their childhood and youth. Then, new music trends were brought into their lives, but its nature and consequences were not as expected in the beginning.

The cast is rather strong, includes some interesting individuals, and children/youngsters performing Matti and Niila at different ages are talented; moreover, there are versatile Finnish and Swedish actors in supporting roles. On the other hand, Populärmusik från Vittula is not a family film, especially for "decent" families, as it contains rude language, nudity and heavy drinking... But as based on the book with the same name, I am sure that the portrayal of everything is realistic.

"Populärmusik från Vittula" is a lovingly made and beautifully staged movie, brimful with really exciting, amusing, disturbing, and most of all NEW and interesting faces, folks and scenes.

Well worth seeing, but i strongly recommend to read the book before watching the film, because the book's author Mikael Niemi puts major emphasis on loving observation - his unique strength - and all time-line-bound events are connected and interwoven by the narrators's humorous, skillful reflections. While the entire novel lives on this unique subjective density, the screenplay fails to regenerate this surreal yet all-too-real atmosphere, and spawns a scrumptious roundabout of kaleidoscopic, more or less detached incidents. Partially, it even felt like someone's trying to affirm or authenticate the author's contemplations. A somewhat oblique effort, fit to entertain but also irritate the unprepared beholder.

Compared to what is called mainstream these days, "Populärmusik från Vittula" is a step in the proper direction. OK, it rides the book's wave of success, but the heck, it was simply about time for a movie like that!

This is the kind of movies we need in these days. Rock N Roll movies, now when the Hip Hop gets too much place.

The Movie is about two boys which grows up in Northern Sweden. Its the sixties and Sweden is on a era of new inventions. New roads and buildings where builted. And now Sweden need more people who can work on these projects. And we took people from Finland.

Thease two boys, one Swedish and one finish, discover the new music, Rock N Roll. And when they got 15, they started a Rock n Roll band, which was impossible before, because the people in northern Sweden is very conservative and doesn't like to buy something which they haven't used before. But thanks to their new music teacher, which comes from souther Sweden, helped them.

See this Movie!