Tyttö sinä olet tähti

I found this actually one of the first decent movies in Finland, it is a story about a crude rap music producer and a girl from a good rich family. By different reasons they end up working together, both trying to achieve what they need, and pull trough with their friends and family. Movie has lot of situation comic, it is catchy and interesting to follow from the beginning to the end. Some nice romance in it too, but without spoiling it with too much mushiness. Actors manage to perform quite naturally and lot of the movie feels like it could easily be from everyday life - with touch of naiveness though. It had one very obscure scene, and some unnecessary effects stuffed in out of the blue, but overall I was quite impressed.

This movie is, in my opinion, just a movie below the average with a quite standard teenage plot. I see that the movie can be rated very high in Finland. However, it is actually a standard Finnish crap with a bad cinematography and editing. Sorry to write it, I like Finland very much.

The only thing which should be mentioned in a positive way is interesting music.

In comparison with other relatively new Finnish movies, I would rated worse than Nousukausi. If somebody wants to see and interesting FInnish movie, he or she should buy a DVD with Levottomat which has much better story line than Tyttö sinä olet tähti.

The film depicts music industry as seen from the rap/r&b side through the co-operation of a "reluctant" bad-boy rapper and an "ambitious" uptown girl. Its clear precursor has been "8 Mile" by Curtis Hanson, but whereas that film had craziness, love, lust, violence etc., this one has maybe only weariness on the platter, judging from the views of Helsinki's East End railway backyards that we see.

The acting is juvenile. Since the main couple (very unlike Murphy/Eminem) are frozen in their roles, sidekicks who "assist" the main rapper score the few laughs and points for male bonding. They represent the kind of chauvinism that the protagonist should represent to be taken seriously as a rapper. He is no Flavor Flav, not even a chav. Since the Finnish way of life is the real backdrop, this love story could have been set to any other genre of pop; 80s synth, Eurodisco, heavy metal or folk, or in the public library, for that matter.

Some Finnish cultural personalities such as Anna-Leena Härkönen (author/actress/columnist) throw unimpressive minor side roles to the main story, but their impact could have been much bigger (sexy seduction etc.), unless they were in it just for the money.

The title of the film ('Girl, You're a *Star') comes from the eponymous 1997 recording by Finnish rock's former infant terrible, Kauko Röyhkä, which was a minor hit on the radio at the time.

Nelli (Pamela Tola), the daughter of a bourgeois family, dreams of an RnB singing career but is pressured by her family to apply for med school instead. One day she meets Sune (Samuli Vauramo), a reserved and idealistic hip hop DJ who refuses to sell his music out to a big record company even if it means he can't make a living by making music. Nelli asks Sune if he can help her to write some songs for her demo CD, and after an awkward beginning they start getting along and liking each other better. However, Nelli's rich family and her boyfriend Mikko (Jussi Nikkilä) aren't happy about her new career plans.

The movie was originally praised as one of the best Finnish films in a long time and received a bunch of nominations for the Jussi Awards, a.k.a. "the Finnish Oscars" – something that baffled me then and still does after a rewatch. The romantic plot is completely ordinary and clichéd, and the expected criticisms of the greedy music industry are hardly original either. Even though some of the songs on the soundtrack (composed by Jukka Immonen with lyrics by rappers like Elastinen and Asa, among others) are catchy, it's hard to hear how Sune's beats or Nelli's singing are 'underground' or particularly impressive in any way.

In spite of its obvious unoriginality, Tyttö sinä olet tähti (literally "Girl You Are a Star" – I wonder who came up with the English name "Beauty and the Bastard") is not a terrible movie by any means. The lead actors Tola and Vauramo are convincing in their roles and Sune's foulmouthed rapper friends Kondis and Isukki (Joonas Saartamo and Eero Milonoff) are hilarious throughout. I also enjoyed the many real-life rapper cameos, even if most of them are very difficult to spot without knowing where to look. In the end, the film is probably best suited for younger viewers who haven't yet become jaded by the conventions of the romance genre. Fans of Finnish hip hop should also find it entertaining enough.

Branded as the "best Finnish movie ever made" sounds like a bit of an overstatement by the pro critics. The film consists of a standard plot, which in this case has been placed in a frame surrounding a rap band. Couple meets - there are other love interests/attraction - cultural and social background of the characters - there is a misunderstanding - then another - yet another - at the same time dream of one or the other or both is fulfilled - both main characters are extremely good at what they do - there are "advisors" to both of the main characters - and then there love and happy ending.... How many such films have we seen!

The film's plot differs not from the above, but it differs to its advantage in the excellent and believable characters in the film. Wieving the film in a theatre full of 15 to 19 year olds was an eye opener for and old fart like myself. You could almost hear how the film clicked with them. Character building was so strong with the actors that I had to ask myself whether they really were a rap band, remembering that Eminem made a movie of himself as well.

Plot, as standard as it was, was handled professionally and with a strong touch. There we some hilarious scenes and a lot of simple but good anecdotes that permeated throughout the film. Director had also included some symbolic, willingly or unwillingly, like when Sune is helped in his drunken stupor by Kondis and Isukki. Did you too recall the painting "Wounded Angel" by Hugo Simberg! Removing the typical "Schlager" type music the film does not suffer one bit. Using rivalry between R/B and Rap benefits the film on a level as well.

All in all the film worked well. It can't get the top marks as there is nothing unique in it, it brings nothing new to us. 7 out of 10