Ariel (1988)
Country: FIN
Technical: col 72m
Director: Aki Kaurismäki
Cast: Turo Pajala, Matti Pellonpää, Susanna Haavisto
Synopsis:
When his pit is closed, a miner inherits his father's Cadillac and drives south to find work. Robbed of his money, and unable to secure permanent employment, he turns to crime.
Review:
The second of what came to be known as the director's 'proletarian trilogy', this is the usual mix of the fairytale and the quotidian. Key narrative moments, such as the robbery, arrest and the death of his cellmate, are clunkily handled, while the solidarity of the dock workers and single mum girlfriend is bathed in romanticism: a crook is a crook, a worker is a worker. And yet the hero is both, and his slipping into a life of crime appears contrived, and his escape unconvincing. All the same, there are moments of characteristic deadpan humour: after the hero has driven hundreds of miles through freezing temperatures with the top down, his friend's dying gesture is to casually press the automated conversion switch.
Country: FIN
Technical: col 72m
Director: Aki Kaurismäki
Cast: Turo Pajala, Matti Pellonpää, Susanna Haavisto
Synopsis:
When his pit is closed, a miner inherits his father's Cadillac and drives south to find work. Robbed of his money, and unable to secure permanent employment, he turns to crime.
Review:
The second of what came to be known as the director's 'proletarian trilogy', this is the usual mix of the fairytale and the quotidian. Key narrative moments, such as the robbery, arrest and the death of his cellmate, are clunkily handled, while the solidarity of the dock workers and single mum girlfriend is bathed in romanticism: a crook is a crook, a worker is a worker. And yet the hero is both, and his slipping into a life of crime appears contrived, and his escape unconvincing. All the same, there are moments of characteristic deadpan humour: after the hero has driven hundreds of miles through freezing temperatures with the top down, his friend's dying gesture is to casually press the automated conversion switch.
Country: FIN
Technical: col 72m
Director: Aki Kaurismäki
Cast: Turo Pajala, Matti Pellonpää, Susanna Haavisto
Synopsis:
When his pit is closed, a miner inherits his father's Cadillac and drives south to find work. Robbed of his money, and unable to secure permanent employment, he turns to crime.
Review:
The second of what came to be known as the director's 'proletarian trilogy', this is the usual mix of the fairytale and the quotidian. Key narrative moments, such as the robbery, arrest and the death of his cellmate, are clunkily handled, while the solidarity of the dock workers and single mum girlfriend is bathed in romanticism: a crook is a crook, a worker is a worker. And yet the hero is both, and his slipping into a life of crime appears contrived, and his escape unconvincing. All the same, there are moments of characteristic deadpan humour: after the hero has driven hundreds of miles through freezing temperatures with the top down, his friend's dying gesture is to casually press the automated conversion switch.