Herrat täysihoidossa (1933) - A loud, goofy Finnish time capsule

If you want to see what people in Finland laughed at ninety years ago, this goofy boarding house comedy is actually a pretty fun time. But if you hate scratchy old sound and actors who yell every single line at the top of their lungs, you will probably hate it. 🇫🇮

The whole thing is basically about a bunch of weirdos living together under one roof, getting into misunderstandings that could be solved by one normal conversation. But then we wouldn't have a movie, would we?

What really caught my eye was how insanely loud the sound effects are. Every time someone shuts a door in this boarding house, it sounds like a small bomb going off.

Seriously, the audio track is so crackly and intense that a simple teacup clinking made my cat jump straight off the couch. It has that same chaotic, clunky energy you find in some early sound stuff like The Idle Class, though this one has way more shouting.

Georg Malmstén is the big draw here, and he basically plays this charming guy who can't stop singing. He has this massive, toothy smile that feels almost painted on his face.

There is this one scene where Elsa Rantalainen, who plays the strict landlady, just stares at a young man with absolute pure hatred. The camera stays on her face for like five seconds too long, and it is genuinely terrifying.

Some weird things I noticed:

• They are served some kind of grey soup, and everyone eats it like it’s the most delicious thing on earth.
• One of the actors in the background is clearly trying not to laugh during a supposedly serious argument.
• The mustache on the main character looks like it might fall off if he sings too high.

The plot gets super messy near the end when everyone starts running in and out of rooms. It’s like a cheap theater play where the director forgot where the actual exits were.

Still, there is a weird, clumsy charm to how unprofessional some of it feels. It’s a neat little time capsule, even if it makes your ears ring after twenty minutes.