It is all in the mind!

The Man Without a Past (Mies Vailla Menneisyyttä, Finnish; 2002)
Director, Producer, Written: Aki Kaurismäki

We are who we are all because of our senses. The composite of the input of senses that are fed to us, with the processing by our associative neurons and the limbic system, showcase us to the world as the unique individual that we are. Our likes, dislikes, values, beliefs, relationships, moods and personalities are all products of these inputs woven together by memory. The memory of the things that we learn along the way, paves the path to follow and adapt to the social mores that are appropriate for our surroundings. When the faculty of recollection fails, we become zombies that just follow the herd like automata.

Kaurismäki's movies are acquired tastes. The acting appears robotic and the actors look expressionless. Herein lies the quirky sense of humour that hits subtly. Along the way, it is apparent that the director also hits a low blow to the modern capitalistic free economy.

In this second offering of Karrismäki's 'Finland trilogy', the unnamed protagonist, credited as 'M', finds himself lost in Helsinki. After being hit on the head by hooligans while sleeping at a park and robbed of his belongings. He wonders around without knowing his purpose of being there, his past and even his name. With the help of container-dwelling fringe society of town, he tries to get himself together. By no means, it is a walk in the park as his existence seem to depend on his pass - his identity, social security number etcetera.

He just seems to be an unwanted figure existing without a soul to care. It finally changes when he gets embroiled in a bank robbery.

The cold lonely walk of modern life...

Lights in the Dusk (2006)
Written, produced and directed: Aki Kaurismäki

This must surely be the bane of modern living. In contemporary times, Man lives a loner's life. He is individualistic and tries to find happiness in the company of himself. Koistinen runs life in a routine, doing things that he sees little satisfaction. He yearns for that elusive happiness, wonders where it is, contemplates where it is, questions whether it exists, wander around looking for it at all the wrong places and fails miserably.

In his fear of not achieving eudaemonia, he is scared to commit himself in relationships. Perhaps because he spends too much alone, he finds sharing his living space too restrictive. He wants the freedom to explore without being tied down. He wants the cake and to eat it at the same time. 

The film, which is the last instalment of Finland trilogy [Drifting Clouds (1996); The Man without a Past (2002)], keeps the theme of lonely life in that country. The background story seems to hint that life is all not hunky-dory in this supposed first world country with a perfect infrastructure and social safety net. For the common man, it is all the same to him, whether a socialist government reigns or capitalism is the order of the day. Neither of them is friendly to the entrepreneurial desires of the common man.

Maybe it is just me, but there is also a hint of resentment of the days when Russia ruled over Finland. Finland is said to have been raped of its resources and culture by the Russian giants before the fall of the Romanov family. Anti-Russian sentiments continue to date. This must have been sarcastically inserted by the director as a group of drunks arguing about the greatness of some Russian literary figures. It is also seen when he boasts of naming his security firm 'Kosinski', not Koistinen, his real name.

It tells the mundane life of a lowly loner security guard who leads a lonesome routine. He is a shy guy who goes back to an empty cold apartment. His only meaningful contact with a living organism is the plants that he keeps on the roof. He has big plans for his life, but nothing can get off the ground. He finds an admirer in the owner of the hotdog stand but is too aloof to realise. In midst of all these, a mysterious lady befriends him. This femme fatale, as it turns out, is using him just to rob a jewellery under his care. His life goes topsy-turvy.

It is unbelievable that a character such as this should exist; a passivist, one who goes with the flow without fighting back, holding old age-forgotten loyalties like honour and bearing all the burdens in the name of passion. Perhaps, there do!

https://www.facebook.com/cinephilia.my/

Everyone's a loser?

I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)
Screenplay, Production, Direction: Aki Kaurismäki

When does a person consider himself a failure? Does it happen when he loses his job and is unable to sustain his existence? Or it happens when he realises that there is no future for him, nothing for him to live for? The path in front of him is just an abyss of nothingness with nothing to call his own. His life is hollow, and his interaction with others is just superficial acquaintances which end at the end of working hours or the break of dawn.

Is he a loser when he is unable to provide for his loved ones? Does he lose it when the curtain draws on him and the Maker prematurely call him in?

Set in the gloomy, dull days of the 70s in the United Kingdom when economic malaise was the order of the day and financial market was in the doldrums, it depicts the story of the Royal Water Works Board clerk who was retrenched. The Board is being privatised and the protagonist, Henri (Jea-Pierre Léaud, seen as a child actor in the classic French neo-realist film '400 Blows'), being a foreigner, is the first to go. A disappointed Henri, probably with other baggage that he must be carrying with him as he had run away from France, attempts suicide. He fails miserably. By chance, Henri encounters an article in the newspaper about hired killers. With his life savings, he employs them to kill him!

Along the way, he meets and falls in love with a flower girl. Suddenly, the zest for life is renewed. Life has a purpose now. Unfortunately, the agency that sends hire killers cannot be contacted, and a contract killer is on the prowl for his blood. Amidst the cat and mouse chase, we the audience, come to know that, even the hired assassin has a sob story to tell. The slayer feels he is a loser as he is dying from terminal lung cancer, his days are numbered and has a daughter that he has to depart soon.

In his own way, the storyteller paints a picture that everyone would perceive themselves to be a flop if there is nothing much to look forward to life. The next question is whose duty is it to pave a flawless path for us to follow? Is it our individual duties to plan our futures? Is it the role of our elected leaders to stimulate the economy so as its citizens can prosper? Does money solve everyone's problems?

https://www.facebook.com/cinephilia.my/

Only for young ones!

Drifting Clouds (Finnish; 1998)
Written and Directed: Aki Kaurismaki

This modern world is only for the young, the well-heeled and the spendthrift. It is not interested in the older population who are less productive and tend to be miserly in their spending habits. The world revolves around generating economies, increasing debts and squeezing everyone out of their hard-earned money with the promise of giving them that elusive thing called happiness. Sure, there are avenues for one to make a living. It is hampered, however, by enslaving people to the bondage of their jobs. There is no leisure and no time to savour the fruit of their labour. At the same, people have to fulfil their biological purpose of existence and to bear the baggage that it brings, sweat, blood, tears, death and much more.

Big corporate firms are only interested in the big players with big capitals. Little people with only determination and tenacity as their collateral do not excite them. At the end of the day, it is only human relationships that save the day when the state fails.

This minimalist film is a melancholic one with its own quirky moments. It tells the story of a couple aged around the late thirties/early forties who had both lost their job. The economy is slow, and retrenchment is the order of the day. With a background sadness of losing their toddler (we are not told when and how), they battle unemployment, disappointment with securing jobs, humiliation and helplessness as they are denied finances and are told off to be old.

Even though the movie was made in the late 90s, the film has a retro mood setting with its jazzy and 60s rock-and-roll musical score. The cold Scandinavian climate set the perfect mood for the melancholia that hung throughout the film.

I was told most of Kaurismaki's takes are single takes, and the actors had to give their one and only best shot at the camera. The acting appears robotic at times, but apparently, that is the director's signature which augments his own sense of humour.

Credit: https://www.facebook.com/cinephilia.my/