Memories | “His spontaneous crying has been etched in my heart forever” – Readers remember Vesa-Matti Loir and the artist’s unexpected encounters

Artist Vesa-Matti Loiri died on Wednesday, August 10. He acted, sang and laughed his way into the hearts of Finns. This was also proven by HS’s reader survey, which asked about the finest achievement of Loiri’s career and his own memories of Loiri.

Various Uuno Turhapuro films were mentioned dozens and dozens of times, as well as recorded interpretations Eino Leinon about poems.

Also Loir’s first appearance on the big screen Boys-film in 1962 and especially its ending have drilled deep. At the end of the film, Jake, played by Loir, is dragged behind the train for a short distance and calls his mother back.

“I was a child myself when I saw it for the first time. I cried inconsolably”, said Marja Tuomisaari and summed up the memories of the film by dozens of other respondents.

Read more: This is how it all started: Young Loiri hung on the back of the train and shouted himself directly into the hearts of Finns

Others recalled much more recent appearances by the Loir.

“One of the most recent memories is the 2018 gig at Joensuu’s Kerubi stadium, when Loiri interpreted Leino’s songs and behind him the sunset turned the sky red. This memory still gives me goosebumps and I will never forget it,” he said Sanna Kanervo.

Then there were slightly more special memories. Riitta Keto tells about Loir’s concert in Helsinki seen at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s:

“At the event, there was a Kännäinen who was completely confused. In the middle of the song, the man ran up to the performers to light his cigarette. Instead of the performers evicting the disturber, Vesa-Matti stopped singing, dug out some matches (or stendar) and handed the man fire. The man walked away satisfied with the burning cigarette in his mouth, and Vesa-Matti continued singing about where he had left off.”

Karoliina Vuohtoniemi remembers the encounter on the shore of Lake Inarijärvi.

“There is a man sitting by the lake in Ivalo, elegantly dressed in Makia’s clothes. A woman and her husband walk towards a man, the husband blindfolded. The man sitting on the beach notices the woman’s tears and starts crying himself. The blindfold is removed from the husband’s eyes and he sees his biggest idol, Vesa-Matti Loir, wiping his tears on the beach.”

Vuohtoniemi says that he had the honor of meeting Loir Suomilove-in the filming of the series.

“My husband has always been a big Loiri fan. We have been together for 17 years and all that time my husband has imitated Loir’s characters, especially Uuno. He also knows Uuno movies by heart. So I wanted to surprise him with Vesku and Good wood – song.”

Vuohtoniemi remembers that the episode was filmed near Loir’s cottage in Ivalo and the filming lasted several hours.

“Right from the first meeting, it became clear that Vesku is not afraid to show his feelings. Her spontaneous cry as we approached her has forever been etched in my heart. During filming, Vesku hugged me several times, and his immediate attitude towards us, strangers, was beautiful.”

During the filming break, Karoliina Vuohtoniemi, her husband and Loiri were talking about things. They asked how Loiri could be so multi-talented. Loiri answered that it stems from a child’s continued curiosity towards everything new.

“Vesku also told about the filming of his films, about how Uuno in Epsanja – during the filming, a man came to ask in English what you were filming. Vesku quickly answered something in a hurry and left. Afterwards she heard that the man was Sean Connery.”

Loiri invited Vuohtoniemi and this man to his Christmas concert.

“Even in the darkness of the concert hall, I cried, his music and voice touch so deeply into humanity. Thank you Vesku for the great feelings and meeting in Lapland’s summer, where everything blooms quickly.”

Loirin Suomilove-you can watch the performance Yle Areena.

Very many respondents remembered Loir from their childhood. Whatever Loiri presented on TV, he managed to inspire children in particular.

Mirjami Vertainen remembers that Loiri “knew guaranteed laughter when I was a child. I always nailed to the side of the road if I could see him there. It was a very warm and safe feeling, pure joy!”

As a young adult suffering from depression, Loir’s Leino records brought comfort.

“I saw Vesku with my daughter at Tampere-talo during his last Christmas concert tour. He was already lean, but managed to completely surprise by pulling a diamond gig. He gave his all. Massive love sailed between the stage and the audience, in both directions. I noticed that my hands were cold, but my lap was warm.”

Jukka Manninen one of the earliest childhood memories is related to the Loire.

“I was maybe 5 years old when my mother and I were shopping in a home furnishing store, the year was maybe 1989 or -90. My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw Uuno Turhapuro himself in his baggy shirt sitting in a TV chair on a high platform giving out numbers. The line to Uuno’s place was probably hundreds of meters, but I, being a cunning and impatient little boy, went around past everyone behind that podium. I jumped up, and just as I was about to pat Uuno on the shoulder, he suddenly turned his dull eyes on me, held out a wrinkled handkerchief with a scarf over his shoulder, and said ‘in a snooty way’: ‘That’s it, get out of here, you snotty beak!’ – I will never forget that moment!”

Manninen also got to play billiards with Loir at the age of 12.

“On a trip to a summer cottage with the family, we stopped at a gas station to refuel, and we also found a pool table in the gas station’s cafe. This time I saw Vesku all by himself sitting at a nearby table, and I couldn’t resist the temptation – I absolutely had to ask him to play a game with me, despite the fact that it must have been the first time I even hit a pool cue myself.”

“All I remember about the game itself is that Vesku didn’t show any mercy and pocketed their own balls in a few minutes with the most amazing gimmicks. At the end of the game, we shook hands and the journey to the cabin continued with a big smile on our faces.”

Anna Baarman didn’t quite understand as a child that Uuno Turhapuro is just a character played by Loiri, and that Loiri is something else as a person.

“One summer while vacationing in Central Finland, my family and I went to a remote mill cafe, and there sat in the cafe none other than Uuno Turhapuro himself with his messy hair, shaved head, holey shirt and poplar jacket, sipping coffee. Apparently, some Uuno movie was being filmed in those regions and Vesku had come to the cafe for a break. After that, it was even harder to believe that Vesku was not the same as Uuno, the same person. No matter how my parents tried to explain…”

Also Otto Suuronen remembers Loir from his childhood.

“My mother called Eino Leino 1 album (1978) and the covers of the C-cassette amazed a child under school age. Could that same blond-haired man with his reddish beard and strangely animated expression really be the same person who appears on television as the grotesque Tyune, the suspicious Uncle Nasse, and the nut-crazy Jean-Pierre Kusela? Around the same time I saw this Ere Kokkonen rural pleasure Uuno Turhapuro moves to the country (1986), which, without exaggeration, was watched at least twenty times within a couple of years. I watched it smoothly both in the morning and in the evening, and it seemed to work great as a cold medicine as well.”

Suuronen also remembers boys-the end of the movie and the feeling it caused.

“The tragic and arresting final scene of the film felt completely overwhelming from the point of view of an 8-year-old child. However, the experience of watching the film I saw speaks for itself, I had seen a timeless work of art in its effectiveness, which I would come back to several times over the years.”

Suuronen says that he has seen Loir on stage nearly 20 times.

“At best, the experiences were magical. Classless at worst, but always humane. Rest in peace, King.”

Sami Hänninen remembers Loir’s songs, acting, falling down, sketch characters, playing soccer and billiards and others, but the strongest memory of Loir is related to his father.

“My most moving memory is the course center of the Union of the Deaf in Malminharju in the early 1980s, when my deaf father was disguised as Uuno and wore a white mesh shirt. He performed the role of Uuno in sign language.”

According to Sami, the performance “came as a complete surprise to everyone present and was a great example of Vesa-Matti Loir’s influence that transcends ‘walls’ and cultures”.

“After that performance, I understood that almost everything is possible, courage is an inexhaustible resource and you don’t have to be afraid of being thrown away. Thank you Vesku for everything and take my father’s regards to Uunoje Heaven!”