Junnu Vainio is relatively unknown to the high school students of Kotka Lyceum.
* The albatross that glides without resting, that’s your soul’s flower. In heaven you’ll fly free, my childhood mate, old sailor.*
To this day, many people in karaoke bars still sing the lyrics to Juha “Junnu” Vainio’s songs.
Folk song heritage
The main focus of the film is the wonder of why Junnu’s songs live on as an almost folksong-like legacy and how they are rediscovered again and again.
– His most sensitive texts are, damn it, things he did when he was drunk, says Loiri in the film’s trailer.
Vainio was born and raised in Kotka. The film conveys the mental mood, joys and sorrows of the small town of Kotka. According to Metso and Pietiläinen, it hurts when a percussionist was not recognized in his hometown while he was still alive.
Young people do not know
According to Pietiläinen, the film has the same honesty as the book the duo wrote about Junnus.
– In a certain way, yes, but we do love Junnu here as in that book. We started from the fact that we don’t do anything fancy. We are in Kotka, and Junnu was not slypatu and neither were the people of Kotka.
Yle did Gallup at Kotka Lyseo high school. The young people were shown a picture of Junnu Vainio and asked if they knew who was in the picture. It turned out that Junnu is quite unknown to many 16–18 year olds. Metso says that Junnu has not really reached out to the youth, and this surprises him.
– After all, Junnu has crazy lines in the lyrics that today’s rappers could run out of.
According to Metso, the film is intended for everyone. According to him, even the most die-hard Junnu fans will find something new in the film.
According to Pietiläinen, the film is significant because it tells about how some people are made into heroes.
– We also wanted to show that the hero is a person, and that what is behind that hero.
The movie *Junnu Vainio – Words have a price* will be shown to the public in Kotka and Kouvola cinemas on Friday.
*You can discuss the topic on 25.4. until 11 p.m.*