Pertti Ylermi Lindgren was engaged to 76 women, married none of them and took the money of each and every one. As far as swindlers go, Lindgren is the real thing. Von Bagh asked him to play his proper part in a film that would reconstruct some of his greatest moments; that is, his most flamboyant ‘stunts’ – and he agreed! So, marvel at Lindgren playing Lindgren, and study the film’s second narrative line: how he’s trying to get by with dancing and being charming all through the summer of 1970 in this dance hall or that pavilion.
This is Peter von Bagh’s feature debut and his sole attempt so far at fiction filmmaking – if one can say that of this bizarre hybrid full of lewd humour and a sprightly sense of the all-too-human. The only way to top this would be Von Bagh’s admission that he invented and carefully planted Lindgren in the real Finland of the late 60s. Who knows?
Film details
- Country of production
- Finland
- Year
- 1971
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2012
- Length
- 92'
- Medium/Format
- 35mm
