Pitkä kuuma kesä

Pitkä kuuma kesä (Long hot summer) is a story from the wild 80's, when rock was punk and summers were still hot. The story takes Patu (Unto Helo) from Helsinki, Capital of Finland to Joensuu, small town in the Eastern Finland. In the 80's living in Helsinki was "cool" and others living in the "countryside" were not that cool. Though Patu has to experience that this is not the case in Real Life - there are "cool" people also in the countryside.

This is a story of youth, playing punk, being cool and being in love. And all are brilliantly tied together in a heart-warming way, but without too much of sweetness. The slowly growing love-story between Patu and Noora (Hanna-Mari Karhinen) is only bonus to the fantastic storyline. Pitkä kuuma kesä looks very real and brings 80's Finland back to the 2000's, it is pure nostalgia to people who have lived their youth in that time.

The actors in this movie are young and raw but their work still looks professional. The acting never goes "over", but is very down to earth, which is very rare in Finnish movies.

This warm, fresh story tells about punk subculture in a little town in the eastern part of Finland. During a summer a group of youngsters get closer to their dream having a chance to perform their own music at the big town stage. The young director Perttu Leppä tells about a period he has lived trough. We can watch the episodes smiling with him. "Long Hot Summer" is a remarkable work conserning punk energy and music making in the 1980´s.

The year is 1980.Patu (Unto Helo) moves from Helsinki to Joensuu.There he meets a beautiful local girl called Noora (Hanna Mari Karhinen) and he becomes a friend with a guy called Lajunen (Mikko Hakola) who has a band.Patu becomes a manager of the band.They name the band after a famous author Kalle Päätalo who passed away last November.After a rough start Kalle Päätalo starts getting gigs and soon they're on their way to Tavastia in Helsinki.Perttu Leppä's Pitkä Kuuma Kesä from 1999 is a good Finnish movie that is filled with nostalgia. The youth in this movie drinks a lot and smokes a lot just like they do in real life in Finland.I don't do that so I can't identify with the characters.But I still found this movie very enjoyable to watch.The young actors were good.Some of them are better known as musicians like guitarist Konsta Hiekkanen who played Jimi and singer Toni Wirtanen who played Lärssi.And of course you can find Martti Suosalo in the movie who is just about in every movie that are made in Finland.The music is also good in the movie.Original music is made by Pauli Hanhiniemi and Juice Leskinen.You can also hear Pelle Miljoona and other great musicians of the 80's.This isn't the best Finnish movie I have seen but this is very entertaining.I recommend Pitkä Kuuma Kesä for everybody who wants to see a good Finnish movie.It's not larger than life but it doesn't have to be.

I really enjoyed this movie and would like to recommend it to others.

The story centers around Unto Helo, a young boy who has left the Finnish capital Helsinki for Joensuu, a place in the province close to the Russian border. He meets Lajunen the lead singer of a rock'n'roll band. The time is the early 1980's.

Unto claims that he has the best contacts in Helsinki and that he could help the band make their way to a gig at Tavastia, Finland's most famous legendary rock club. Unto fells in love with Noora and after a lot of adventures they all really end up at Tavastia.

Young director Perttu Leppä has created a movie with a lot of atmosphere, he takes his characters serious, the cast is completely well picked together. "The long hot summer" is a movie about growing up in the Finnish province and it is so well done that the famous brothers Aki and Mika Kaurismäki are no longer alone in putting Finland on the map of European and World cinema. I would like to give 9 out of 10 points.