Musique rock de Vittula

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.

"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!

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!

Just saw the film for the fourth time, and thought I'd chip in on the discussion. It seems to me a lot of the criticism the film meets is about the incoherence of scenes, and the kaleidoscopic manuscript. Well, as it is a retrospective view upon a time long gone, I find it trustworthy and natural that the memory of the narrator is thus fragmented. That is how the mind works. And the narration is never torn, but keeps flowing. Yes, it is absurd, yes, it is grotesque, but this is what we call magic realism, a genre often attributed to south American writers. Here, the book that lays basis for the film, intelligently mixes the exotic air of magic with the harsh environment of Pajala. Enough about that. I find this one of the best examples of a successful adaption from book to film I have long seen. I do not see the bad acting that many point out. The dialects may vary, I am not Swedish and cannot tell, so I'm save from harm there. All in all, the ambiance of the film is sort of "happy in spite" and I am impressed every time. But I am a sucker for that magic realism, so bare that in mind.

9/10

Walking into this movie just more or less accidentally, I went out 105 minutes later with another candidate to my "all times' best list". Formerly employed in movie-jobs myself, I can only say that this is a masterpiece. May be the critics about incoherent use of local dialects is right - I saw it translated anyway. But, if this is a misfit, I must say, there are hardly other minor misfits. The movie is not boring for a second, and the tough scenes are not voyeuristic like usual, but describing the characters and the environment - yes, in a tough way. Highly to be recommended to everyone who was not raised in an accomodance of McD' and Cadillacs. Very close to live, and wonderfully set into scene. Pure live, the hard way, yes, but full of real love. A must for cineastics.