The Saimaa Gesture (1981) User Reviews

Fun rockumentary from 80's Finland

[SkullScreamerReturns · 7/10 · 19 October 2020]

Three bands - Juice Leskinen Slam, Eppu Normaali and Hassisen Kone - are on tour by a boat, sailing to different towns by the lake to play gigs there. There are interviews and a lot of random joking and having fun, but I'd estimate at least half of the playtime consists of live songs from the concerts.

Personally I'm not a big fan of these bands even though they're very famous nowadays, but their youthful energy and fun-loving attitude gets captured to the video perfectly and it's difficult not to like it. I don't know how the Kaurismäki brothers got involved to make the movie on the tour but that was a genius idea, since it really feels like they were in the right place at the right time when these popular bands were young, hungry, and energetic, and the boat tour is a fun idea to begin with.

A classic piece of Finnish rock history.

(If you don't speak Finnish, then make sure there are subtitles. My dvd copy didn't have. I don't know what kind of international releases there may or may not be. )

Best way to see all great bands in Finland that time

[markkuhakonen · 10/10 · 10 January 2006]

The movie "Saimaa-Ilmiö" goes deep to Finnish rock-culture and artists behind the swing. Later all bands playing in the movie as kind of young rebels, has been continuing making their art and most of them are today legends or superstars in genre of Finland. Movie has one other function lovely for my opinion. Men are sailing over biggest lake of Finland, they are drinking a little bit of beer, having sauna and so on. They are laughing, telling dirty and simple jokes, sitting quietly and speaking nothing. They are like ordinary Finnish men, only difference is the art of making touching music and make people laugh or cry with them. See it feel it and love it.

Close look at Finnish rock history

[kalle-parviainen · 10/10 · 18 November 2020]

The early 80s were an interesting and important time in Finnish rock music. Punk had died as quickly as it emerged on the scene, and bands that pioneered the Finnish punk movement either disbanded or became part of the Finnish New Wave, like Eppu Normaali and Hassisen Kone.

The film Saimaa-ilmiö perfectly encapsulates this brief period of time. Three bands tour along the Saimaa waterway, visiting cities like Kuopio, Joensuu and Punkaharju, and drinking and smoking heavily for the week or so the Tuuliajolla tour lasts. The gigs are ferocious and songs are at times played at an impossible tempo, the technology is just a PA system with loud noises coming out from the speakers, and sometimes the stage is occupied by various cameo appearances from all three rock groups. Just as it should be!

There is no narration, and the musical pieces are accompanied by raw footage from the boat with a few brief interviews, from mostly tired/drunk/hungover people saying weird things.

Not sure what non-Finnish speakers get out of this, but if you are even just a little bit interested in this type of music, I urge you to check this documentary film out.