Aatamin puvussa ja vähän Eevankin is a loud, sweaty 1931 comedy

Is this worth your time?

Honestly, only if you have a very high tolerance for 1930s slapstick and grainy film that looks like it was washed in a puddle. It’s a goofy relic for people who like history or guys failing to act like women. If you want a smooth, fast-paced comedy, you are going to absolutely hate this one. 🚣‍♂️

The title translates to something about Adam’s suit and Eve’s too, which is a fancy way of saying people lose their clothes. It sounds way more scandalous than it actually is, trust me. It’s mostly just Finnish men looking stressed in the woods.

Himanen and Kehkonen are our main guys, and they’re just trying to get across a lake. They offer a ride to the stationmaster, which is where the mishaps start. I use that word because everything in this movie is a mishap. They lose their clothes, they lose their dignity, and eventually, they lose the plot a little bit too.

The whole movie feels like it was filmed in one long, sunny afternoon where everyone was slightly dehydrated. There’s a lot of running around in the bushes.

One of the guys, Himanen, ends up posing as a woman. It is not a convincing disguise. Not even a little bit. He just looks like a very tall, very confused man in a dress and a wig that looks like it’s made of dried grass. 🌾

But of course, because this is a 1931 farce, the lensman’s daughter falls for "her." Or him. It’s all very messy. The romance scenes are so stiff they almost become painful to watch. You can practically hear the director shouting instructions from off-camera.

The daughter, played by Elsa Segerberg, spends a lot of time looking confused. I don't blame her. I spent most of the movie confused too.

There is this one scene where they are on the boat and the water looks so still and nice. It actually made me want to go to Finland, but maybe not with these specific guys. They seem like the type of people who would accidentally set your house on fire while trying to boil an egg.

The sound quality is... well, it’s 1931. Everyone sounds like they are shouting into a tin can from across a very large field. It’s a far cry from the big Hollywood productions of the same year like The Big House or even The Deceiver.

I noticed that the stationmaster has this very specific way of twitching his mustache when he's angry. It’s the most consistent acting in the whole film. I found myself waiting for the mustache twitch more than the actual jokes.

There’s a lot of physical comedy that just doesn't land anymore. Like, someone falls over and you’re supposed to laugh, but the editing is so slow that you’ve already checked your watch by the time they hit the ground. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Going Wild, but with less budget and more trees. 🌲

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Aatamin puvussa ja vähän Eevankin (1931) through its definitive frames.

The camera lingers on faces for way too long. Sometimes a character will finish their sentence and just stare into the void for three seconds before the scene cuts. It makes everyone look like they’ve forgotten where they are.

I think the movie is trying to say something about how we all look the same without our clothes and titles. Or maybe it’s just about a guy in a dress. I’m leaning toward the guy in a dress.

I did like the outdoor shots, though. There’s something really honest about old films shot on location. You can see the real wind blowing the trees and the real sun hitting the water. It’s not a green screen mess like today.

But man, the pacing is just brutal. It’s a short movie but it feels like it’s four hours long. Especially the parts where they are just wandering through the forest.

If you’ve seen Too Many Mammas, you know the vibe of this kind of chaotic comedy. But this one feels more damp. Everything feels a bit soggy because of the lake setting.

Is it funny? In a "wow, people used to find this hilarious" kind of way, yes. There’s a scene where they try to hide in the tall grass that is genuinely charming in its simplicity. But you won't be falling out of your chair laughing.

The ending is exactly what you expect. Everything gets sorted out, the misunderstandings are cleared up, and the music swells. It’s very safe. It doesn't take any risks, unlike some of the more daring stuff from that era like Kira Kiralina.

I kept thinking about the actors. They must have been freezing or getting bitten by mosquitoes the whole time. You can see one guy swatting at his neck in the background of a serious scene. 🦟

Overall, it’s a bit of a clunker. It’s a curiosity. A piece of Finnish history that is mostly interesting because it shows how early sound cinema was still trying to find its feet.

I’d say skip it unless you’re doing a marathon of 1931 films like No Other Woman or A Lady of Quality. It’s just too slow for a modern brain to process without getting itchy.

Wait, I forgot to mention the lensman. He has some very strange goggles. I spent five minutes wondering where he got them. Then I realized I wasn't paying attention to the dialogue anymore. That's the kind of movie this is.

Final thought: If you ever find yourself on a boat in Finland with a stationmaster, just stay in the boat. Don't take your clothes off. Don't put on a dress. It’s not worth the trouble. 🛑