Monsterimies

Antti Haase:
Monsterimies (Finland, 2014)
85 min. • Finnish

Monsterimies is a documentary about Tomi Putaansuu – a grown-up kid who wants to be a monster. This is certainly a juicy topic for a music documentary. Putaansuu achieved his dream when his band Lordi won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006, but eventually the Finnish audience gave the band a very cold shoulder. Their fame plummeted alongside their record sales, debt was piling up and attending a reality tv-show with battling choirs was a huge mistake. Eventually, Lordi was playing for random Russian business visitors in Santa Park. The childhood dream was nearly crushed.

After the Eurovision Song Contest, all Finns knew what Lordi was. Antti Haase’s film starts five years after the victory, when all glory has faded. In addition to the massive debt, some members of the band have crisis on their own, and the future of the band is very unsure. The documentary observes Putaansuu’s everyday life, mainly in Rovaniemi, Lapland, where Putaansuu’s mother still looks after her monsterboy.

One of the best features in the film are Putaansuu's childhood photos and the interviews with his mother, which all reveal the unbelievable passion and nearly an obsession behind Lordi. For Putaansuu, Lordi is not an option, it’s his life. The success of the following album will determine whether this guy stays sane and alive. Monsterimies will make you sympathize the big little boy, who was never afraid of the monsters under his bed, but wanted to join them, instead.

See also:

» Don Argott: Lamb of God: As the Palaces Burn
» Ragnar Bragason: Metalhead
» Lasse Keso: Tolonen
» Don Argott: Lamb of God: As the Palaces Burn
» Ragnar Bragason: Metalhead
» Lasse Keso: Tolonen

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