Viu-hah hah-taja

For some strange reason, this movie ranks in the top ten of movies all-time for me. When I was ten years old or so, I considered it the best movie ever. Now, grown up, I see how one could be embarrassed by this movie, but it still has its charm for me. Me feelings tell me to rate this 10/10, my critical intellect awards 4/10; 7/10 is therefore a good compromise.

It is not just my own perception of this movie that is split: the movie itself is split. There are several extremely good ideas, and some working political satire, but it is mixed with Spede's trademark barely-competent-by-accident film making. At the same time, the innocence of the storytelling and film-making is touching, and I'm sure one reason why my inner child loves this movie.

Viu-hah-hah-taja has several threads that mix to create a whole: on the one hand, there are the incompetent aliens who pose as goofy Finns, one the other hand, there is the caricature executive who learns to have fun because the aliens' lost remote control gives him no choice. Mix it with the stereotypical but brilliantly cast absent-minded professor and a few other characters, the soup is ready to cook!

To all who have seen the movie this might sounds as a joke but Viu-hah hah-taja is probably my favorite movie ever. I've seen it maybe 30 times and it's always fresh and amusing. The DVD (rare) does not have the subtitles in English so only finns understand the plot(?) which is extremely complex. It's about 2 spacemen which are getting to earth and Finland in accident. They're taking forms of two finnish men they see and start to investigate the ways and habits of humankind. (finns in this occasion) Also their equipment by which they should get back home, gets stolen and this is also one of the main topics of the plot.

The dialog/monologue/language is so unique and funny that I have never heard nothing even near that funny in any movie before. Seppo Laine's extremely bad finnish articulation is itself on a legendary level. One of the most famous male actors of finland in 80's, Leo Lastumäki makes also the cast of his life as an extremely busy business man.

The movie is kinda sci-fi movie and the sound effects and music are made in that style (as bad as the equipment on 70's could) and are also hilarious by themselves.

I'm sorry I can't say much about the movie, it's a great master piece of finnish cinema and has to be experienced personally.

"Viu-hah hah-taja" is a Spede comedy about two spacemen who "stop on this planet", "have eight eyes and six legs" and who take the shapes of two Finns. The script is full of these clichés. There's even an absent-minded professor (played by the mildly amusing Pentti Siimes) who constantly tells people how he is such an absent-minded professor.

The music (this time not by Jaakko Salo) is highly annoying and the editing adds to the incoherence of the film.

Granted, there are a few slightly amusing puns in the first two minutes and the bad Finnish succeeds for a while too. But if you, as I, thought the anchorman-unintentionally-ridicules-himself gag in "Bruce Almighty" is dragged out a little too long, you haven't seen this.

Spede has a brief cameo and he's even referred to in a joke. Now, I have respect for the man; he did some very good stuff, too. But unfortunately, to me "Viu-hah hah-taja" is unfunny, incoherent, embarrassing and - worst of all - boring. You can nonetheless always give it go. To each his own, as you can see.