Asfalttilampaat

One of the best Finnish classic films. Watching the new HD print I was pleasantly surprised how cinematic it is; clearly the famed director, Mikko Niskanen, was influenced by French New Wave, perhaps Soviet cinema as well. It's a story about young love in narrow-minded small town, a town which doesn't accept the relationship between the two lovers. Could have been a brilliant film instead of a great film - if the commercially inclined producer, Donner, had not insisted cutting the whole film anew on editing table and even filming an unnecessary scene of his own, regardless of director's wishes... making the outcome become somewhat fractured and different from Niskanen's original vision. The director apparently never watched the finished product himself. Still, a great classic with social criticism on small town mentality and a heartfelt love story with good performances and many colorful characters.

ASFALTTILAMPAAT (1968) is the last film in Niskanen's youth trilogy, all three of which starred the lovely female lead, Kirsti Wallasvaara. The other two films were about complications of free relationships in KÄPY SELÄN ALLA (1966) and social/socialist movement in LAPUALAISMORSIAN (1967), the former having more of a cult status in Finland. I would argue that "Asfalttilampaat" is at least equally impressive as a film and even more so visually, although probably not as groundbreaking on depicting youth culture of the time. Great product of its time, with a timeless story.

The film got a very much deserved Jussi Award for best cinematography and is probably best remembered for the theme song "Sinua, sinua rakastan".