Meis vailla menneisyytta (2002)Director: Aki Kaurismaki
Starring: Markku Peltola, Kati Outinen, Juhani Niemela, Kaija Pakarinen, Sakari Kuosmanen
We are into the second half of Screens, Images, Ideas so have left the New Hollywood behind in favour of a much more incoherent grouping of films under the banner of 'European and French Canadian cinema from roughly the 1970s until now'. We got the ball rolling with Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki's The Man Without a Past, the second installment in what is affectionately known as his loser trilogy.
A man (Peltola) is beaten nearly to death outside a train station in Helsinki. After flat lining in hospital he miraculously sits up, gets dressed and walks out, without being noticed. With no memory of who he is, he finds himself a place to live (a converted shipping container by the river) and with the help of Irma (Outinen), a woman from the Salvation Army, starts establishing a new life for himself.
Kaurismaki is a famous pessimist. His films are primarily about the Finnish working class, which has been under great economic hardship over the last two decades. As a result his films tend to have a bit of a downbeat tone. As I mentioned above, this film goes along with Drifting Clouds and Lights in the Dusk to form what is known as his loser trilogy, with all three films dealing with issues of unemployment, homelessness and loneliness.
While The Man Without a Past has this pessimistic tone, it is actually quite a funny movie. One of Kaurismaki's traits is an incredibly deadpan humour. There were a lot of exchanges of dialogue which in an American or British film would have been really punchy, sharp back-and-forth, but Kaurismaki prefers to have them delivered slow and monotone. You almost don't realise how funny the film is, because there is a moment of delay while you register that something was actually a joke. There is nothing contrived about the humour in the film, rather it is just the kind of humour that springs from everyday life.
This film was an interesting take on the amnesia trope. Usually, films about someone who has lost their memory are primarily concerned with regaining it. While the man, known simply as M, does eventually find out his identity, for the majority of the film it is not really his aim. The Man Without a Past is more about him starting afresh, and his difficulties in doing that, rather than his search to find his identity. If anything, his identity finds him, rather than him finding it.
The acting in the film seems almost wooden, though without the connotations of bad acting that using a word like wooden suggests. The emotions of the characters are very restrained and downplayed. Kaurismaki has an established company of actors he likes to work with. You can understand why he always ends up working with the same actors when you read about his working methods with them. In an interview he said "My relationship with my actors has never changed. I hold up my finger when I want them to say the line. They say it, and then I say, 'Thank you very much.' If they want more detailed direction, in that case there is always the door." While there is obviously a bit of hyperbole being used there (as Kaurismaki is very prone to doing when he talks about his methodologies), at the very least it suggests that he is probably not a fan of letting actors experiment and improvise their way through a scene. I can't imagine he would be a great director to act for, so having found a group of actors happy to work with him it doesn't surprise me that he's hung onto them.
The Man Without a Past was the first Aki Kaurismaki film I've seen (though we did watch snippets from a couple of others). He is said to be very much an acquired taste, and it is not hard to see why. Fans of his work would call him a comic director, but it is definitely tragic comedy rather than 'get your mates around for a laugh' comedy. The Man Without a Past is Kaurismaki's most decorated film having won awards all over the world, including the Jury Grand Prize at Cannes and a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. This film was interesting, it was well made, and it leaves you with a real feeling of contentment, but I don't think it'll be most people's cup of tea.
We are into the second half of Screens, Images, Ideas so have left the New Hollywood behind in favour of a much more incoherent grouping of films under the banner of 'European and French Canadian cinema from roughly the 1970s until now'. We got the ball rolling with Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki's The Man Without a Past, the second installment in what is affectionately known as his loser trilogy.
A man (Peltola) is beaten nearly to death outside a train station in Helsinki. After flat lining in hospital he miraculously sits up, gets dressed and walks out, without being noticed. With no memory of who he is, he finds himself a place to live (a converted shipping container by the river) and with the help of Irma (Outinen), a woman from the Salvation Army, starts establishing a new life for himself.
Kaurismaki is a famous pessimist. His films are primarily about the Finnish working class, which has been under great economic hardship over the last two decades. As a result his films tend to have a bit of a downbeat tone. As I mentioned above, this film goes along with Drifting Clouds and Lights in the Dusk to form what is known as his loser trilogy, with all three films dealing with issues of unemployment, homelessness and loneliness.
While The Man Without a Past has this pessimistic tone, it is actually quite a funny movie. One of Kaurismaki's traits is an incredibly deadpan humour. There were a lot of exchanges of dialogue which in an American or British film would have been really punchy, sharp back-and-forth, but Kaurismaki prefers to have them delivered slow and monotone. You almost don't realise how funny the film is, because there is a moment of delay while you register that something was actually a joke. There is nothing contrived about the humour in the film, rather it is just the kind of humour that springs from everyday life.
This film was an interesting take on the amnesia trope. Usually, films about someone who has lost their memory are primarily concerned with regaining it. While the man, known simply as M, does eventually find out his identity, for the majority of the film it is not really his aim. The Man Without a Past is more about him starting afresh, and his difficulties in doing that, rather than his search to find his identity. If anything, his identity finds him, rather than him finding it.
The acting in the film seems almost wooden, though without the connotations of bad acting that using a word like wooden suggests. The emotions of the characters are very restrained and downplayed. Kaurismaki has an established company of actors he likes to work with. You can understand why he always ends up working with the same actors when you read about his working methods with them. In an interview he said "My relationship with my actors has never changed. I hold up my finger when I want them to say the line. They say it, and then I say, 'Thank you very much.' If they want more detailed direction, in that case there is always the door." While there is obviously a bit of hyperbole being used there (as Kaurismaki is very prone to doing when he talks about his methodologies), at the very least it suggests that he is probably not a fan of letting actors experiment and improvise their way through a scene. I can't imagine he would be a great director to act for, so having found a group of actors happy to work with him it doesn't surprise me that he's hung onto them.
The Man Without a Past was the first Aki Kaurismaki film I've seen (though we did watch snippets from a couple of others). He is said to be very much an acquired taste, and it is not hard to see why. Fans of his work would call him a comic director, but it is definitely tragic comedy rather than 'get your mates around for a laugh' comedy. The Man Without a Past is Kaurismaki's most decorated film having won awards all over the world, including the Jury Grand Prize at Cannes and a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. This film was interesting, it was well made, and it leaves you with a real feeling of contentment, but I don't think it'll be most people's cup of tea.
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