Mubi Monday: The Man Without A Past (2002)

I wasn't planning on reviewing another Aki Kaurismäki movie here, mainly because I try to keep things varied when reviewing older world cinema titles, but it turned out that The Man Without A Past just seemed like a good choice. I wanted some of that deadpan brilliance that Kaurismäki can deliver, although I didn't check any of the plot details ahead of time. I'm glad I picked this, because it made for a surprisingly timely, and surprisingly delightful, treat.

Markku Peltola plays the titular character, a man we see being beaten up and left for dead in the opening scenes. When he comes around, he is unable to remember anything. He has no ID on him, no money, and not even the smallest clue to his name. Helped by the goodwill of some other individuals, this man eventually starts to piece together a whole new life. He also falls for Irma (Kati Outinen), a Salvation Army worker who also spends some time helping him to get back on his feet. Is a completely new start possible, or will the past eventually crash into the present?

Considering the blunt nature of the opening, I was very pleasantly surprised by how sweet this was. Kaurismäki could have gone in any number of different directions, but he shows how a life can be completely changed by the accumulation of small kindnesses from strangers. While the immediate effect may not always be so obvious, this is why people should not stop caring for one another, ever. Everyone needs some help at some time in their life, even if it's not to this degree, and whether that is a bit of food, money, clothing, or just trust, it can make a huge impact. 

Don't worry though, Kaurismäki doesn't forget to include a lot of his usual humour. A number of conversations are enjoyably ridiculous, and the second half of the film features at least one sequence that is almost Kafka-esque in the way our main character is questioned and doubted while he tries to explain his state of near-complete amnesia. Anyone familiar with other films from this man won't be disappointed.

Peltola is perfectly fine in the lead role, although he spends a lot of the runtime moving like a leaf blown around by a breeze. His performance is in line with many others throughout Kaurismäki's filmography, wonderfully deadpan and slow, no matter what other forces start to whirl around him. Outinen is just as good, and their connection is believable, rooted more in curiosity and consideration than any grand yearning or romantic gestures. Others provide great support, including Juhani Niemelä, Kaija Pakarinen, and Sakari Kuosmanen, but they are very much in orbit around the central figure/couple.

A lesson in benevolence wrapped in the trappings of absurdist humour and occasional off-kilter surrealism, this is another fine film from a director who may not have any duds in his entire filmography (although maybe that's just down to me having seen his best films first).

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Fallen Leaves (2023)

My second Kaurismäki film in a fortnight, and one that many had near the top of their lists of favourite movies of 2023, Fallen Leaves is another strange alchemy that has the writer-director mixing together the bleak and the bad into something that becomes sweet and affecting. Containing less black humour than some of his other works, this still manages to navigate some treacherous territory without making viewers feel too nervous. Because, wherever he ends up taking us, Kaurismäki is a considerate and careful "ship's captain".

Alma Pöstyi plays Ansa, a lonely woman who also ends up struggling to stay in full-time employment. In the same situation, but for quite different reasons, is Holappa (Jussi Vatanen). Meeting by chance, Ansa and Holappa seem to find a connection, and perhaps see a chance to grab some fleeting happiness with one another, but fate has other plans. Viewers aren't given detailed backgrounds on each of the main characters, but there are little (and some not so little) details to notice and extrapolate from.

As low-key and gentle as so many other Kaurismäki movies, Fallen Leaves is the kind of film you might get if Ken Loach was tasked with delivering a romance that showed some silver linings in the many clouds gathering overhead. It’s grounded in a daily drudgery that could easily subsume someone, a struggle that many will be able to at least partly identify with, and news reports detailing the war in Ukraine serve as a reminder to enjoy the small breadcrumbs of happiness that are sometimes laid down for us. The radio is delivering bad news, but it's also a voice available to people who may not hear from anyone else throughout their day.

Pöstyi and Vatanen are both fantastic in the lead roles, the two of them showing their characters dealing with their pain and loneliness in very different ways. Although others appear for very brief moments of screentime, this is essentially a two-hander for most of the runtime, making it vital that the leads are up to the task of carrying the film. They certainly are.

Whether or not you are familiar with Kaurismäki may help you to decide whether or not to bump this one to the top of your viewing schedule. I would recommend it though, as long as people approach it with some idea of what style and commentary the director likes to serve up. He puts scar tissue under a microscope and magnifies it until it looks like a moving and surreal work of art. The more I think about this since seeing it, the more I appreciate how delicate and perfectly-crafted it is.

9/10

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Mubi Monday: I Hired A Contract Killer (1990)

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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Mubi Monday: Lights In The Dusk (2006)

Written and directed by Aki Kaurismäki, Lights In The Dusk is a very interesting crime drama that takes some familiar tropes and delivers them in a strangely stilted and sedate manner that shouldn't really work, but does. I must admit that the first few scenes left me feeling slightly cold and confused, but sticking with it led me to enjoy something impressively unique and worthwhile.

Koistinen (Janne Hytiäinen) is a lonely nightwatchman, hoping to one day start his own business. He is friends with Aila (Maria Heiskanen), a woman who works in a food van, but doesn't seem to have anyone else in his life. This looks set to change when he is approached by the lovely Mirja (Maria Järvenhelmi), a beautiful woman who screams icy femme fatale from her very first appearance. It turns out that Mirja is in the employ of a crime boss (Lindholm, played by Ilkka Koivula) who wants her to gain information from Koistinen and rob his place of work.

Although superficially very simple, almost laughably so when you think of how the lead character accepts everything around him, Kaurismäki seems to be very deliberately utilising the familiar to underline a message. It happens all the time, to varying degrees. People can see others around them about to cause harm, or just use them, and yet they still go along with it all. Because of loneliness, because they can convince themselves that it's not really going to turn out as bad as it looks, or because of a few other reasons. 

Hytiäinen is very good in the lead role, all weariness and loneliness embodied in the body of an everyday man just trying to make his way through life with a minimal amount of pain, and Järvenhelmi is a wonderful icy blonde, able to work her magic on the main character simply because he will accept it, knowing there will be a catch somewhere, but not caring enough about the consequences to want to miss out on his time with her. Koivula is a standard crime boss, always in control and always ready to sacrifice meek lambs, and Heiskanen is the lone sweetness in amongst all of the bitter moments.

Kaurismäki certainly knows what he's doing here, and both the visuals and the dialogue deliver so much more than just whatever appears on the surface. He makes a lot of deliberate choices, very few of them the easiest options, and the end result is all the more impressive once you realise that you've been quietly affected by the power of the film as the end credits roll.

Although strange in the way everything is played out, from the style of many characters to the feeling of artifice around many of the main scenes, Lights In The Dusk works because of the way it uses the strangeness to dress up the mundane. It makes viewers work a little bit harder to see the obvious, which is itself part of the lesson here. 

8/10

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