L'homme sans passé

I've watched this twice now, and throughly enjoyed both viewings, finding this film to really be a unique one. It's a Finnish film, which is unusual to start with, at least here in the U.S. because we don't see too many films from Finland. It's a black comedy, meaning deadpan looks with subtle comedic lines. In English, it's titled "The Man Without A Past."

The main actor, Markuu Peltola, is perfect for this movie with one of the most deadpan faces you'll ever see. He is amazing to watch and Kati Outinen, as his love interest, is similarly strange and fascinating. Part of their charm are their unusual looks. This is not a romance between people who look like your normal handsome film stars.

Simply, this is just something very different from anything you've seen, a combination of drama, comedy and romance with some of the strangest dialog I've ever heard on film. If you appreciate dry humor and a bizarre but touching story, you should see this.

MAN WITHOUT A PAST, THE (Aki Kaurismäki - Finland/France/Germany 2002).

This second installment in Aki Kaurismaki's projected "Finland Trilogy" is a heart-warming fable about a man (Markku Peltola) who loses everything, including his identity. After M, as he is referred to for the rest of the film, dozes off on a park bench, he is awoken by a trio of thugs who brutally beat him up, steal his money and toss his wallet and identity papers into the trash bin. In the hospital, he is pronounced dead by the doctors, but by some miracle he springs back to life but with no memory whatsoever of his past or his identity. Now a penniless amnesiac, he has to build his life from scratch. Without knowing a single person (and without a single person knowing him), he must try to survive, but he soon acquires a melancholy dog named Hannibal and falls in love with Irma, a lonely salvation army soup kitchen volunteer. Of course, his past does catch up with him, but it only works to point out what's really important in his future life.

Kaurismäki usually champions the outcasts of society and here it's no different. He once said: "I make films for the unemployed, but since they don't have money to buy cinema tickets I generally have no audience." Of course, Kaurismäki has a huge audience by now, but no matter how simple and accessible the story in the film might look, he still manages to blend romance, quirky comedy and social commentary, seemingly effortless into the film's narrative.

Most of the humor doesn't come from any written gags or jokes but springs from the absurdity of the situations, all in Kaurismäki's typical deadpan-comedy style, complete with nods top '50s B-movies, rock'n'roll ("rhytm music", as it's called by M), fairytale romance and an incomparable soundtrack, featuring British beat combo, The Renegades. I just love the music in this film! Time and place hover between Helsinki in the '30s and the present. Despite the idiosyncratic set-up and the strange unreal dialog, it's incredible how very real all these characters feel. Deep sentiment but every inch of it sincere. I can't get enough of this film, no matter how often I've seen it.

Camera Obscura --- 9/10

This is the first Aki Kaurismaki film that I have seen and it is the second film in a trilogy. I definitely want to see the first one now and I plan on seeing the third whenever it comes to my neck of the woods. Film is a very simple story of a man (Markku Peltola) who while waiting for a train goes to a park and falls asleep on a park bench. Three thugs come along and beat and rob him. He is so beaten that when he wakes up in a hospital he has amnesia. We never do find out his name! He leaves the hospital and has no where to go. A very poor family living in a metal container take him in and try to help him. He goes to the Salvation Army for free food and an opportunity to work small jobs and its there that he meets Irma (Kati Outinen) and is attracted to her. The film follows this man as he romances Irma and works odd jobs. Its all presented in a very dry and droll comedic fashion. All the characters are very emotionless no matter what the circumstances are and in some ways its reminiscent of the films that Jacques Tati use to make. In one scene in a bank a robber enters and shoots a broken security camera and the teller and our protagonist all act very calm and very polite. At the heart of this film is even though the characters are very quiet they are very helpful of one another and seem to care for each other. I have heard that all of Kaurismaki films are like this and its been nicknamed "Aki's world". Kaurismaki is a very unique filmmaker and the way he presents his characters is in contrast to the bleak area that they live in. Even though the film and the characters are laid back in their attitude, the romance between the man and Irma shouts of passion. Their affection and fondness for one another doesn't need words. It rings loud and clear!

This Finnish film may not be for everyone. Though nominated in 2002 for an Oscar for best foreign film, I don't think it got much play in the US. It's a quiet movie about a guy who is beaten in a park in Helsinki right after getting off a train. The hospital thinks he's dead, but he staggers out, gradually recovers, and can't remember a thing. He meets a number of people, most of whom help him in some way or another. He meets a Salvation Army woman and a relationship develops.

It's hard to describe this movie. The dialogue is often funny, but delivered absolutely deadpan. There is no excitement, but a rich development of story and relationships through incidents that happen to the lead character or that he causes to happen. The two leads, Markku Peltoa and Kati Outinen, are adults and look it. There's no Hollywood handsomeness about either of them. The structure of the movie is a gem of economy. One scene ends and the film moves briskly on to the next scene. No extended, unnecessary character development. No superfluous dialogue. It may sound pompous, but this movies creates at the end a nice feeling of mature contentment.

I am not familiar at all with the work of this director at all so I was unsure what to expect from this movie when seeing it as part of the Regus London Film Festival on tour.

I needn't have worried. This film is very touching and in many places laugh out loud funny. The scene where the dog is introduced is just side-splitting.

The humour is so dry and it is very hard to compare this film with many other films, but for some reason it reminded me a little of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Delicatessen, especially some of the colours in the set design.

I understand this film is the second part of a trilogy? I simply have to see more stuff from this guy, I feel like I have missed out in a big, big way!

If you get the chance, don't hesitate to see this film, it is simply a work of art. I for one will be going to see it again when it goes on general release next year.