Hirttämättömät

Hirttämättömät (=Unhangables) is a Finnish western comedy with road movie elements. Lonely Rider and his (mostly) faithful sidekick Tonto try to transport so-called criminal Speedy Gonzales for hanging in hope for a hefty reward. Little do they know... after some major problems they all end up crossing a hot and long desert with their entire water supply depleted. Or has it?

The whole story relies on the three hilarious main characters but mainly on Lonely Rider (played by Vesa-Matti Loiri). His already great performance gains even funnier sides as he goes almost literally crazy with lack of water. Unlike cunning and cool Speedy or simple but calculating Tonto, Lonely Rider is so boastful, loud, greedy and plainly foolish that you just have to instantly love him. And yeah, all the worst things seem to happen to him.

If you're expecting a realistic western set, don't bother. As earlier stated, this movie was shot almost entirely on sandpits. Such a lovely place as Finland just doesn't have arid and wasted places good enough for fine looking western scenes. Never mind that. It's not the plot (or the scenes) you should think about, it's the journey itself!

This is a national treasure.

Finnish film-critics have always hated this movie, but to many film viewers this is their favourite Spede-movie. Speedy Gonzales lures two wanted outlaws, the Lonely Rider and Tonto the Assistento, to drag themselves into the sheriff's office for a reward. The outlaws don't know that they are wanted, instead they think that Speedy is wanted but reward will only be paid of him as alive. The outlaws are just too stupid to believe that.

Vesa-Matti Loiri plays one of his best roles ever as the Lonely Rider. His character is equally as rough as is stupid. The Lonely Rider makes many mistakes in this movie, but he doesn't care a bit about them - he is too tough to feel anything. His Indian friend Tonto is somewhat more intelligent, but is also very untrustworthy. Speedy does absolutely nothing in this movie, except that makes the journey very difficult.

The movie was almost entirely filmed around one and same sandpit. Speedy actually makes a statement about this fact in the movie. When they finally arrive at the Njetponimaj-stad, Speedy asks the sheriff: "So you mean we have circled the same sandpit for three weeks?" It is a joke in the movie, although they really have also done it.

..And the worlds best movie in the category "filmed entirely in a sandpit". This b/w low budget picture is a gem, featuring inspired acting and a truly stupendous plotline. Every finnish speaking person should see this (no translations available that I know of, sorry).