***SPOILERS, or just one.***
'Vieraalla maalla' has a very interesting plot: Tuomas is collecting material for his doctoral thesis, which concentrates on foreigners living in Finland and their relations to the Finnish people. To gather as authentic material as possible for his doctoral thesis, Tuomas disguises himself as a foreigner and starts to record his first hand experiences. What follows is a true comedy of errors.
Even if 'Vieraalla maalla' is an unique Finnish comedy film, it doesn't have to mean a great movie. Making a film with actors like Björklund, Haapasalo, Vierikko and Väänänen (plus a brief cameo by Kai Lehtinen) should mean a great movie, but I think 'Vieraalla maalla' lacks to benefit from any of these famous actors. The storyline of the movie is brilliant, but somehow the entity manages to be so boring viewing that you'll soon start to wonder how it was possible to create such a crappy film with this plot and these actors. It is difficult to laugh at the jokes of the film if they rather make you cry all the time. And there is this 'mandatory nudity scene' too.
The purpose of the filmmaker's has admittedly been to make a good film and not to offend anybody. This fails disastrously as the film presents Finland as a very prejudiced and racist country. There are just too many skinheads and polices for a great film and the only 'normal' persons in the film are Tuomas/Omar (Haapasalo) and Hanne (Björklund). We seem to live in a world that consists only of extremes. I dare to suggest that the film could have been better if these 'normal' people had been exchanged with the 'extraordinary'. Björklund and Haapasalo could have been used to play more demanding roles, but I think they are too swallow in this film. If only we have had more of that "You are my first Ingusian man..." and other fatalities from Björklund, this film would have rocked.
'Vieraalla maalla' has a very interesting plot: Tuomas is collecting material for his doctoral thesis, which concentrates on foreigners living in Finland and their relations to the Finnish people. To gather as authentic material as possible for his doctoral thesis, Tuomas disguises himself as a foreigner and starts to record his first hand experiences. What follows is a true comedy of errors.
Even if 'Vieraalla maalla' is an unique Finnish comedy film, it doesn't have to mean a great movie. Making a film with actors like Björklund, Haapasalo, Vierikko and Väänänen (plus a brief cameo by Kai Lehtinen) should mean a great movie, but I think 'Vieraalla maalla' lacks to benefit from any of these famous actors. The storyline of the movie is brilliant, but somehow the entity manages to be so boring viewing that you'll soon start to wonder how it was possible to create such a crappy film with this plot and these actors. It is difficult to laugh at the jokes of the film if they rather make you cry all the time. And there is this 'mandatory nudity scene' too.
The purpose of the filmmaker's has admittedly been to make a good film and not to offend anybody. This fails disastrously as the film presents Finland as a very prejudiced and racist country. There are just too many skinheads and polices for a great film and the only 'normal' persons in the film are Tuomas/Omar (Haapasalo) and Hanne (Björklund). We seem to live in a world that consists only of extremes. I dare to suggest that the film could have been better if these 'normal' people had been exchanged with the 'extraordinary'. Björklund and Haapasalo could have been used to play more demanding roles, but I think they are too swallow in this film. If only we have had more of that "You are my first Ingusian man..." and other fatalities from Björklund, this film would have rocked.