Long Hot Summer, The

It's 1980 and Patu moves from Helsinki to a small town where he starts working as a caretaker at the churchyard. There he meets Jukka, who sings in a band. Patu invents a more hard-boiled past for himself, in which he claims to have helped several famous bands in their careers. Jukka asks Patu to become his band's manager. Patu falls in love with Noora, who drives the band's coach and when they get an invitation to play at a nightclub in Helsinki, Patu must confront his lies. Punk is at its peak and the boys with their washed-out jeans and a diet of mash and moonshine fight to stay awake. The dream is to play at a nightclub in Helsinki, but awaiting that they struggle along at outdoor dancehalls, playing humorous songs in the style of Eddie Medusa. Perttu Leppa hits all the marks in describing a provincial town in 1980 and there are similarities with films like Show Me Love and The Commitments. But the genuine Finnish interpretation of the ''unknown band fighting its way up'' theme makes this film special. The description of the provincial vomit among birch leaves will be recognised by everyone who's woken up with a hangover in morning dew. It's Friday night in Joensuu and everyone is gathering in the town square...

Orig. titel
Pitkä Kuuma Kesä: Medverkande
Unto Helo,Mikko Hakola,Hanna-Mari Karhinen: Producent
Johannes Lassila: Manus
Perttu Leppä: Foto
Jyrki Aarnikari: Musik
Pauli Hanhiniemi: Talat språk
Finnish