Les gros durs

Häjyt (1999) is a Finnish film directed by Aku Louhimies. The film deals with the lives and survival of young men in a violent and socially challenging environment. The main characters of the film, Väinö and Repeä, are played by Jani Volanen and Kalle Holmberg. It is a realistic and cold depiction that uses violence, friendship and the lives of young men in difficult circumstances.

The film has been praised in reviews for its authentic atmosphere and strong performances. The film's dark and sometimes even harsh depiction of the lives of Finnish youth has been impressive and hard to watch. The film also features themes of life, such as prison and difficult life stories. Because of this realistic and brutal approach, Häjyt has been remembered as a significant work in Finnish film history.

On the other hand, the violence of the film and the events that take place in a cold atmosphere feel heavy and depressing, and it is not for all viewers. However, the film's profound portrayal of humanity and its social dimensions make the film impressive and appealing to Finnish fans.

The film might as well be a documentary, that's how accurate it is in its portrayal of the lives of a particular Finnish male type. In the region described (Southern Ostrobothnia) there still live hundreds of men like Antti and Jussi, and probably they will exist a thousand years from now. In the town where I was born there were two brothers who were known to engage in all sorts of criminal activity, but if they got caught, their grandfather (who was the son of an extremist right-wing leader of the 1930's) always bailed them out, paid the police to shut their mouths and the boys kept on plotting new crimes. When the grandfather died, one of the brothers was immediately sent to jail. The other one is free (not enough evidence). So the film is freakishly REAL. Now, this is not to say that all men are like that in Southern Ostrobothnia. They are a very small minority, and most people are a bit higher up in the evolutionary scale... Today, the general public regards the type of behaviour as in "Häjyt" as unacceptable and shameful. Still, the film is a handsome portrait of one particular group of Ostrobothnian people and their lives.

The characters are so realistic, totally in the hands of their own acts. The story evolves, you think you know what's coming... and that is only partly the case. The playing is outstanding. The music is very good and fits perfectly to the movie.

It's a movie about three school friends, who start to do criminal things. They rob a bank, hide the lute and two of them go to jail. The third one, Heikki (Teemu Lehtilä), get's off and becomes a policeman. When the other two get out, they meet again after a short time. Friends again, but that also places Heikki in an impossible position, because especially Jussi (Samuli Edelmann) gets involved in violent acts all the time. Both Jussi and his mate Antti (Juha Veijonen) try to get a normal life, but both get in trouble all the time, by their own (mostly Jussi's acts).

As Antti's grandfather puts it: only do things, you can take responsibility for... and that fails all the time.

They start to sell illegal booze, and the results are devastating... I won't tell the story, because it is a movie you really should see for yourself.

This movie is quite violent (if you cannot stand that, don't watch), realistic, humorous and amazing. The main characters are villains, criminals, especially Jussi, who seems to have no conscience. The only thing he cares for are his friends and his freedom, and the rest of the humans could rot in hell, he doesn't feel any remorse about the terrible things he does, that are actually quite funny from time to time. The odd thing is that those bad gays are very sympathetic.

A realistic and amazing movie, totally not standard.

"The tough ones" was the last one of a series of Finnish movies shown in some sort of festival arranged by the Finnish embassy in Argentina. These kinds of movies are unfortunately not so common here, but I was quite amazed by this festival, and this movie in particular. "The tough ones" has climbed in my favorite-movies-ever list to the top position. For some strange reason I feel identified with this movie. I won't tell anything here about the plot. The music and photography fit the story beautifully. Although there are a few violent scenes, I don't find it to be a violent movie (beware: many people *will* probably say it's a violent movie). The director managed perfectly to get you involved in the story and take to the "tought ones", and feel what they feel, their happiness and their sorrow. It was the first (and so far only) time that I left the cinema and really wanted to go in and watch it again. I wish more Finnish movies reached my country!

If you are not a Finn, you might not fully understand this great movie at first. But don't be alarmed, you will get it eventually! But if you've lost all your interests towards Finnish movies (Maybe seeing one too many Kaurismäki films... Heheh!), the cure for that is this extraordinary excellent movie! If I should recommend one Finnish movie, I'd choose this one.

A tragicomic story of two ex-cons and their wild life at their birth region up north. A story that you just know can't end too well once started. The plot is so well written that you don't wanna miss a single scene or line! And the actors do a superb job. Especially Edelmann's performance as Jussi Murikka (the crazier of the two petty crooks) is as good as acting simply can get.

I won't reveal anything more of the plot because I wouldn't want to spoil your fun if you ever get a chance to seeing the movie. BTW. The soundtrack is also great, but foreigner people might not appreciate it like I would. I think the music used in the movie adds that extra flavoring and supports the story by its behalf.

I totally recommend everyone -man, woman, child and adult- to seeing this wonderful movie. WARNING: Contains bizarre humor! Please don't take the movie too seriously and make hasty presumptions of Finns and the characteristics of our nature... Which is nonetheless peculiar enough! ;)