Every time I watch another movie from Aki Kaurismäki, I remember that I have enjoyed almost everything else I have seen from him. He already has many fans, so I would probably be preaching to the converted with a lot of the praise I could put here, but I Hired A Contract Killer is another feature in his filmography that is well worth your time, as long as you can accept the dark material being mined for some even darker comedy.
Jean-Pierre Léaud plays Henri, a man who is let go from his job after fifteen years with the company. He immediately plans to end his life. This is when his luck goes from bad to worse, subjectively speaking, and viewers get to see Henri fail in his attempts to commit suicide. The obvious next step is to hire someone to kill him, which he does, but he then meets a woman (Margaret, played by Margi Clarke) who gives him something to live for. That's not necessarily of any concern to The Killer (Kenneth Colley) though.
Written and directed by Kaurismäki, from a story idea by Peter von Bagh, this is one of those films that could head off in any number of different directions. It could be a dark thriller, and there are certainly moments here that feel quite noir-ish. It could be a much more obvious comedy. It could be turned into a decent little action film. Or it could be turned into numerous other final forms, many of them seeming more familiar without that particular Kaurismäki stamp on things.
Léaud is impressively quiet and blank in the main role, a man being moved by the tide, as opposed to making any effort to swim against it, and Clarke has enough screen presence to convince as the woman who instantly changes his whole mindset. Colley, the spoke in the wheel, but also the essential component making our leads quickly develop such a strong bond, is also perfectly cast, a menacing figure with an air of fallibility to allow viewers to keep rooting for things to turn out well for Henri and Margaret.
I don’t think I would recommend this film for those new to Kaurismäki, it’s maybe a bit too dark and strange for those not acclimatized to the director, but I highly recommend it to anyone already aware of his work. He has a knack for weaving together disparate elements into something wholly satisfying and resonant, and this time around he shows how quickly someone worn down by impersonal environments and crushing loneliness can find themselves again with the right motivation and sliver of hope. There is a whole other conversation to be had about how fair that is, considering the pressure on the person embodying that new lease of life, but the film sets that aside in favour of something a bit less complicated, until you keep thinking it all over after the end credits.
And that seems as deliberate as everything else here, because every Kaurismäki film tends to keep you thinking it all over after the end credits.
8/10
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