Tony Patriarche Superficially just another Scandinavian twist on the teen coming-of-age sex movie, I think there is genuinely a deeper level of interpretation. This odd film reminded me inevitably a little of Sex, Lies and Videotape - but the subtext is a much more general social commentary on the issues of privacy and personal freedom. The larger cast expand the personal issues to the social context without losing intensity in individual performances.As a North American, I feel slightly disconnected from the European society -- we do not (yet) have surveillance cameras on every street corner. Nevertheless many places from banks to 24-hour grocery stores already use video surveillance, most cell-phones now come with an integrated camera, the web-cam is a common household appliance, and sex has become a spectator sport perhaps more than at any time in previous history. It is easy to say that my freedom ends where your privacy and right to security begin -- but it is not always so easy to find that point in our complex, crowded, fearful 21st century society.Be warned: The sex scenes are numerous, explicit, and grittily realistic -- a far cry from the blurred-lens romance of the soft porn of most North American or British adult movies, or the extreme absurdity of so-called hard porn. I found this verismo refreshing in an odd way, although many may find it disturbing, especially in a film about late teens or twenty-somethings.My one regret is that one of the subtext messages seemed to be one common to many movies: Young people can have sex, but they will be punished for it. Whatever the truth of this philosophy, it is an older person's perspective, which to me jarred with the viewpoint of the film, told almost entirely from the teenagers POV.Although no totally new ground is broken here, I think this film is worth at least a good first look and perhaps a second viewing.

omarsamra This film will catch you unawares. I felt that the film would be a risqué and rather typical coming of age film. It has all these variants but to a deeper degree. I actually finished the film and was extremely upset with all the male characters. They were willing to throw away their sufficient lives for the thrills of voyeurism. Jere especially. The other reviewer talked about how the camera was the source of all evil in this movie. After all it was how Tavvi found out the truth about his parents death and was the eventual downfall for two out of the four male characters. This film is not recommended for the lighthearted, and you how you will feel after the movie is totally up in the air. I was rather disgusted with their little game, but just my opinion. As for the way the movie was shot; it was done well the angles, the characters were somewhat believable....a decent film overall.

julian kennedy Young Gods: 7 out of 10: For once I would like to see a teenage drama where careless foolish teenagers get away with being well careless and foolish. Nobody gets hurt, pregnant, married, commits suicide, tragically killed ext… they just act like complete idiots and go off to college. Kind of like real life for a lot of kids.On second thought there are movies like this but they are all have Porky's in the title. Young Gods is unfortunately a teenage drama. Which means no foolish action will go unpunished.Before the drama really kicks in we have a super realistic look at the lives of four teenage boys. The movie nails the attitudes and actions of young males of that age group and the pace while leisurely actually reflects the indifference to time people of that age actually have. (It also reflects the boredom that comes with no school and no job.) The movie also has a surprisingly naturalistic attitude about nudity and sex. Some may be shocked by the young actors' nudity but it felt non-sensationalist and rather realistic.The plot about voyeurism and constant filming is overdone (see drama above) and the results of the boys' actions seem more draconian than real life. But this is after all a movie.Despite being relatively slow placed and occasionally over-dramatic Young Gods is an enjoyable, realistic and fresh coming of age film.

gradyharp Walk down any street in metropolitan areas and the omnipresence of the Big Brother camera is frightening: cell phones now capture all manner of images from friendly to horrific, cameras at stores' entries scan customers like a police state, police have license plate detecting cameras on their vehicles, strolling youngsters and tourists have the ubiquitous camcorders recording sights and other people's privacy - the list is endless. This strangely mesmerizing film 'HYMYPOIKA' (Young Gods) from Finland addresses these facts and builds a story around just how invasive and destructive the personal hand-held video camera has become. '1984'? Yes, in many ways it is.Director Jukka-Pekka Siili has taken an idea from Jaajo Linnonmaa, passed it through screenwriter Jukka Vieno, and though Jarkko T. Laine is credited as the cinematographer, Siili records this story as though he were the one holding the intrusive camera. The technical aspects of the film - black and white into color into white noise screen into abrupt movement, odd angles, etc - are a strategically important aspect of the film's success.Taavi (Jussi Nikkilä),the enigmatic 18-year-old lead, has just inherited his long-deceased wealthy parents home and estate. It is high school graduation and Taavi's birthday, and after his fiends greet him au natural and are arrested (the policewoman Helena Pääkkönen - Laura Malmivaara - is attractive and forgiving), Taavi invites his friends to the mansion for a wild party. Taavi lives with a recording camera to his eye, a machine that allows his to keep interpersonal distance from everyone. Among his friends are Jere (Reino Nordin) who considers himself a woman's man, Markus (Jarkko Niemi) who appears the well-adjusted one, and chubby, pierced Sami (Ville Kivelä) whose sexuality is ambiguous. The party gets wild, guests sleep around, and Taavi records it all! When Taavi's friends discover his deed, a pact is made: each of the four young men will videotape their own sexual encounter. This contest begins innocently enough for the boys, but when the girls photographed en flagrante discover the ploy, anger erupts and varying degrees of tragedy occur. As with many invasive games, this contest progresses to humiliation, rape, and worse, and finally leads to the truth about Taavi's secrets about his parents and his own personality disorder - all focused on the video camera as the source of evil.The film is daring, entertaining, frightening, cruel and dissecting all at once. While many may dismiss this as just another example of foreign film exploitational technique, there is much more to the story than meets the first encounter. Siili has uncovered truths about our current preoccupation with privacy invasion and they are loudly criticized here. This unrated movie is not a film for the squeamish, but it is a significant statement that needed to be made. Grady Harp