Great Fun Ideas and Headbanger Sound

Heavy Trip

Road Movie / Comedy, Filmcasino Wien, Austria 20190110

A band that exhumes their dead drummer, kidnaps a patient of a psychiatric clinic and nearly starts a war. Maybe the best description for the crazy journey of one band from the northern Scandinavian countryside.

Since the legendary “This Is Spinal Tap” from 1984, that the filmmakers of this movie also quote as an influence, the last years have been good for Hard Rock cinematic art. Alone in 2013 even three hit the screens: the short film “Necronomica”, the comedy “Pop Redemption” (german title “Happy Metal – All We Need Is Love!”) and epic “Málmhaus” (german “Metalhead”). Together with Stormbringer, the Filmcasino took the responsibility and presents the latest Metal comedy “Heavy Trip”.

This amazing piece is brought to you by Finnish production company Making Movies Oy. Finland is also where the story begins, in the village Taivalkoski. The basic story follows four outsiders who play in a band, never played a gig or wrote a song but by accident see the opportunity to play a festival abroad in Norway. The dream of being successful with the own Rock is a real one for many, and documentaries like “The Story of Anvil” brought it to a bigger audience.

For their gig at the festival, the band around main character Turo finally finds a name – Impaled Rektum, and writes the very first song “Flooding Secretions” after an incident at the clinic where Turo works. But the gig is based on a lie, and as drummer Jynkky dies, they’ve reached the bottom. Also the movie itself fights few weaknesses, but the grandiose humor and jokes help to get over them. The absurd border scene that nearly leads to the war makes a bit think of “Iron Sky”. Close to the end, the band gets help from Vikings from a LARP. And all over the film, you can find sweet little jokes of the Metal scene like when Journi says about getting the girl “The Chase is better than the catch” or Lotvonen’s dad waves goodbye with his ring- and middle finger missing.

And then you even get the lovely small Finnish details, the swearwords from “Vittu” to “Perkele”, the beautiful old Finnish women’s bike Turo rides and the guksi he drinks off when practising. With all of this and the affecting ending, not only for Metal lovers, Heavy Trip is big fun.