A charming story of a man who must start from scratch with the help of a few good friends, but the politics make me uneasy
Added 4/14/2009
Aki Kaurismaki's 2002 film MIES VAILLA MENEISYTTA (The Man without a Past) has become the director's most successful film internationally. It's easy to see why. This story of a man who gets hit on the head in a violent mugging, loses his memory, and must survive in a cold world is fairly universal in its themes. While set in Helsinki, references to concrete places there are exceedingly few, and the movie's action could be unfolding almost anywhere. The visuals of the film, such as the charmingly incongrous set design blending the 1950s and the digital era, and the preference for sky blue among the colors will certainly please a wide audience.
What does keep the film exceedingly Finnish, however, is the deadpan humour. Foreign audiences are likely to laugh at some lines that are typical communication between Finns and miss some of the more subtle Finnish humour. There's also an attack on the Finnish welfare state, and it is for this that the film has always left me uneasy. In my years of living in Finland, I've never encountered cold, uncaring civil servants like Kaurismaki depicts. Police and city bureaucrats are, though slighly stoic in the Finnish manner, friendly and approchable enough. As Kaurismaki depicts a man reduced utterly by the uncaring State, I started wondering what exactly his agenda is. At times, MIES VAILLA MENEISYTTA seems to approach some kind of neo-liberal propaganda film, and without this the film would have been much stronger.
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Unique & Fun, Start-To-Finnish
Added 3/19/2009
I've watched this three times now, and throughly enjoyed all three 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.
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. It's 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.
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I have never knowingly been aquainted with a Finn but I have known a Basque. Those two cultures are known for various attributes but stoicism is a trait they share and one that stands out because it is so unique. I had to keep reminding myself of that while watching "The Man Without a Past". I realize that there is an element (intentional or otherwise) of "black humor" in this film but I fought the tendency to jusge it as black humor because it said so much more just taking it straight. Emotions aside (is that the National Motto of Finland?) what takes place in "The Man Without a Past" says a lot about many things. I was reminded of the first half of B. Traven's "The Death Ship" when following the trials and tribulations of a man with no name (and, naturally, no ID). However, what touched me most was the story of a man who could rebuild his life completely from scrath with no prior memories that could influence your choices. What would any of us be if we could restart our life at middle age. There are many other compelling issues that are brought out by the events that take place in this film but I enjoyed not knowing what would happen next so I don't want to give anything away. Not that there's a great big surprize at the end but the director (and writer?) Aki Kaurismaki gives us a lot to consider with the various directions his film takes. What I took from "The Man Without a Past" was the concept that we are all good people who have been molded by events and surroundings. We become so reconstructed that it seems nearly impossible to just be ourselves anymore. "The Man Without a Past" hints that nonetheless it would still be nice to try.
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Great film by Kaurismaki
Added 1/13/2008
One of Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki's minimalist humanist-mannerist comedy dramas. Here, a man arrives to Helsinki by train from the interior of Finland, and is soon beaten senselessly by some thugs in a public park. He wakes up at the hospital, with bandages round his head (a homage to James Whale's version of The Invisible Man, as some critics suggested?) and with a case of complete amnesia. He is soon called M (another homage to a 30s movie?). He goes on to live in a ramshackle house on the outskirts of Helsinki (I didn't know there was such poverty in rich Finland), working at odd jobs, meeting quirky people and trying to slowly remember his past. Among the friends he makes is a woman working for the Salvation Army (Kaurismaki's regular Kati Outinen, showing here a bit of age). The movie has a lot of the mannerisms of Kaurismaki's movies, but also its humanism. It is quirky, but compelling. Among the best work in Kaurismaki's already long career as a film director.
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salvation army in finland
Added 12/13/2007
This film illustrates what I love best about being half finnish myself. Life in Finland is slow, people are taciturn and barely able to communicate. This shows the difference of Finland from the rest of Western Society - AND Eastern society. I think the music shows the minor key tone of living in the Northern climate, where the brain slows down to a crawl and survival means staying warm and dry against the odds. Knowing Finns as I have, I can understand why this movie is funny to them. Life plays out slowly and on a wave of timing that is unique. But they still manage to do the right thing - work, take care of each other and even fall in love.
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A charming story of a man who must start from scratch with the help of a few good friends, but the politics make me uneasy
Added 4/14/2009
Aki Kaurismaki's 2002 film MIES VAILLA MENEISYTTA (The Man without a Past) has become the director's most successful film internationally. It's easy to see why. This story of a man who gets hit on the head in a violent mugging, loses his memory, and must survive in a cold world is fairly universal in its themes. While set in Helsinki, references to concrete places there are exceedingly few, and the movie's action could be unfolding almost anywhere. The visuals of the film, such as the charmingly incongrous set design blending the 1950s and the digital era, and the preference for sky blue among the colors will certainly please a wide audience.
What does keep the film exceedingly Finnish, however, is the deadpan humour. Foreign audiences are likely to laugh at some lines that are typical communication between Finns and miss some of the more subtle Finnish humour. There's also an attack on the Finnish welfare state, and it is for this that the film has always left me uneasy. In my years of living in Finland, I've never encountered cold, uncaring civil servants like Kaurismaki depicts. Police and city bureaucrats are, though slighly stoic in the Finnish manner, friendly and approchable enough. As Kaurismaki depicts a man reduced utterly by the uncaring State, I started wondering what exactly his agenda is. At times, MIES VAILLA MENEISYTTA seems to approach some kind of neo-liberal propaganda film, and without this the film would have been much stronger.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Unique & Fun, Start-To-Finnish
Added 3/19/2009
I've watched this three times now, and throughly enjoyed all three 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.
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. It's 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.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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I have never knowingly been aquainted with a Finn but I have known a Basque. Those two cultures are known for various attributes but stoicism is a trait they share and one that stands out because it is so unique. I had to keep reminding myself of that while watching "The Man Without a Past". I realize that there is an element (intentional or otherwise) of "black humor" in this film but I fought the tendency to jusge it as black humor because it said so much more just taking it straight. Emotions aside (is that the National Motto of Finland?) what takes place in "The Man Without a Past" says a lot about many things. I was reminded of the first half of B. Traven's "The Death Ship" when following the trials and tribulations of a man with no name (and, naturally, no ID). However, what touched me most was the story of a man who could rebuild his life completely from scrath with no prior memories that could influence your choices. What would any of us be if we could restart our life at middle age. There are many other compelling issues that are brought out by the events that take place in this film but I enjoyed not knowing what would happen next so I don't want to give anything away. Not that there's a great big surprize at the end but the director (and writer?) Aki Kaurismaki gives us a lot to consider with the various directions his film takes. What I took from "The Man Without a Past" was the concept that we are all good people who have been molded by events and surroundings. We become so reconstructed that it seems nearly impossible to just be ourselves anymore. "The Man Without a Past" hints that nonetheless it would still be nice to try.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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