Aki Kaurismaki, Ranked

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One of my favourite directors, Aki Kaurismaki has been so consistent in making films about Finnish life. Like the sublime works of Ozu, Kaurismaki's movies are sincere and deeply humane.

1. Ariel
2. Le Havre
3. The Match Factory Girl
4. The Man Without A Past
5. Drifting Clouds
6. Shadows In Paradise
7. I Hired A Contract Killer
8. Leningrad Cowboys Go America




The first two (Ariel and Le Havre) and The Man Without A Past are more accessible than the rest. The Match Factory Girl is almost a silent film, while Drifting Clouds is in my opinion the most languidly-paced of them all. Kaurismaki is as strict an auteur as Ozu. So if you like Ozu, chances are you will for Kaurismaki



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Kaurismaki reminds me of Jim Jarmusch, although perhaps his style is not as broad. Maybe that's why Jarmusch used one of Kaurismaki's fave actors, Matti Pellonpää (R.I.P.), as the Helsinki taxi driver in his Night on Earth. Kaurismaki tells his simple stories of simple people with a straight face (usually) but deep down there's a sense of absurdist humor running through them. Most of the characters are barely eking out an existence and often go from bad to worse, but there's usually a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of human contact and sharing, with the hope of romance even. Another thing flowing through his films is his encyclopedic musical knowledge of rock, folk, jazz and blues. The characters usually either perform their own music, go to clubs with live music or listen to the ever-present radio to get some tunes to just make their lives that much more entertaining and easier. The music in his films are often originals made for the movie, and there are also many songs in many different languages. I need to see a lot more of his films before I make a definitive list, but I'd probably rank them for now as follows:

1. The Man Without a Past
2. Ariel
3. La Havre
4. Shadows in Paradise
5. Lights in the Dusk
6. The Match Factory Girl
7. Leningrad Cowboys Go America

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Most of the characters are barely eking out an existence and often go from bad to worse, but there's usually a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of human contact and sharing, with the hope of romance even. Another thing flowing through his films is his encyclopedic musical knowledge of rock, folk, jazz and blues. The characters usually either perform their own music, go to clubs with live music or listen to the ever-present radio to get some tunes to just make their lives that much more entertaining and easier.
That's absolutely right. It's strange how a director like Kaurismaki would include whole sequence (the entire 3-5minutes of the song) of his characters just looking tired in the clubs when other directors would see this as mostly detracted from the story. There's something ironic with Kaurismaki's films ending on a false hope? Something apparently derided by most people as false optimism, eg. the ending of Le Havre.

I think Kaurismaki's movies most ressemble Ozu's films, although they don't possess that ennobling, timeless quality which make Ozu stand out.



matt72582's Avatar
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My favorite director who started in the 80s (and maybe the only one)... Some FULL movies below w/ English subtitles (well, one now.. I used a friends' account to upload and do the subtitles - hope SOMEONE will enjoy this)





ARVOTTOMAT






matt72582's Avatar
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Shadows of Paradise - 10/10
Ariel - 9/10
Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana - 9/10
La Vie de Boheme - 9/10
The Match-Factory Girl - 8/10
Crime and Punishment - 8/10
Arvomatt - 8/10

Drifting Clouds - 7.5/10
I Hired A Contract Killer - 7/10
Leningrad Cowboys Go America - 6/10
Calamari Union - 5/10
Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses - 5/10



matt72582's Avatar
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Matt, has he done anything since 1995 that you're fond of? I really don't know his work.
"Drifting Clouds", but its the only I've seen, but I do plan on seeing the rest.



Matt, has he done anything since 1995 that you're fond of? I really don't know his work.
Le Havre (2011) was pretty great. I've not seen many of his others though, need to work through his filmography.



matt72582's Avatar
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Shadows of Paradise - 10/10
Ariel - 9/10
Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana - 9/10
La Vie de Boheme - 9/10
The Match-Factory Girl - 8/10
Crime and Punishment - 8/10
Arvomatt - 8/10

Drifting Clouds - 7.5/10
I Hired A Contract Killer - 7/10
Leningrad Cowboys Go America - 6/10
Calamari Union - 5/10
Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses - 5/10
The Man Without a Past - 7.5/10
Le Havre - 7.5/10