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Ariel -
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, but evenly? Not hardly. For some, it's a whole lot more of the latter. That's the case for Taisto (Pajala) in another funny and hard-hitting Kaurismaki tale about his downtrodden fellow citizens trying to hang on to something worthwhile. Like Yvon in L'Argent and Stroszek in the movie of the same name - I'll be another person to mention Pajala resembles Bruno S. - Taisto is another memorably unfortunate laborer whose downward spiral is a consequence of simply being one. From losing his mining job to his savings to...well, I don't want to say much more other than the writer/director will surprise you with how much someone can lose without being directly at fault, Taisto somehow keeps the nobility of poverty trope alive. It helps that one of his bouts of bad luck come with a good one: he not only falls in love with a single mother, but also one whose lone son has already seen enough in his short life to be okay with this relative stranger becoming his new dad. What follows is a Rube Goldberg-like series of encounters, dilemmas, genre shifts, what have you as Taisto tries to stop this opportunity from leaving his grasp. Again, he does his best to hold his head up, but it's not always easy. Every time he slips - especially during a moment with a prison guard - it's a punch to a gut and a surge of empathy for those like Taisto who somehow have even more indignities. In the midst of his difficult journey, Kaurismaki still manages to add his signature deadpan comedy where he can. If it's not his adorably loyal and none-too bright cellmate, it's their attempt at coming across like they belong in a Tarantino movie.
Kaurismaki's stories about there being a light at the end of the tunnel for people like Taisto are as reliably optimistic as movies get, with this entry being no exception. I struggled with rating this one a bit, settling on a judgement that it's great overall, but just a good one for Kaurismaki. Compared to the best ones I've seen by him so far, this seems more like a lateral than an upward move, if you will. Pajala is fine as our hero, but he makes Taisto more impenetrable and gives him fewer dimensions than I have seen in the filmmaker's best heroes. The same could be said about the rest of the characters, which could be due to the plot being more involved here than it is in his typical movie. I still feel he could have fleshed everyone out a bit more and without slowing things down. The important thing, though, is that I remain eager to conclude the Proletariat trilogy. Oh, and if you're wondering what "Ariel" means, I'll just say that if you're a movie lover and your first thought is what I assume it is, you are in the ballpark.
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, but evenly? Not hardly. For some, it's a whole lot more of the latter. That's the case for Taisto (Pajala) in another funny and hard-hitting Kaurismaki tale about his downtrodden fellow citizens trying to hang on to something worthwhile. Like Yvon in L'Argent and Stroszek in the movie of the same name - I'll be another person to mention Pajala resembles Bruno S. - Taisto is another memorably unfortunate laborer whose downward spiral is a consequence of simply being one. From losing his mining job to his savings to...well, I don't want to say much more other than the writer/director will surprise you with how much someone can lose without being directly at fault, Taisto somehow keeps the nobility of poverty trope alive. It helps that one of his bouts of bad luck come with a good one: he not only falls in love with a single mother, but also one whose lone son has already seen enough in his short life to be okay with this relative stranger becoming his new dad. What follows is a Rube Goldberg-like series of encounters, dilemmas, genre shifts, what have you as Taisto tries to stop this opportunity from leaving his grasp. Again, he does his best to hold his head up, but it's not always easy. Every time he slips - especially during a moment with a prison guard - it's a punch to a gut and a surge of empathy for those like Taisto who somehow have even more indignities. In the midst of his difficult journey, Kaurismaki still manages to add his signature deadpan comedy where he can. If it's not his adorably loyal and none-too bright cellmate, it's their attempt at coming across like they belong in a Tarantino movie.
Kaurismaki's stories about there being a light at the end of the tunnel for people like Taisto are as reliably optimistic as movies get, with this entry being no exception. I struggled with rating this one a bit, settling on a judgement that it's great overall, but just a good one for Kaurismaki. Compared to the best ones I've seen by him so far, this seems more like a lateral than an upward move, if you will. Pajala is fine as our hero, but he makes Taisto more impenetrable and gives him fewer dimensions than I have seen in the filmmaker's best heroes. The same could be said about the rest of the characters, which could be due to the plot being more involved here than it is in his typical movie. I still feel he could have fleshed everyone out a bit more and without slowing things down. The important thing, though, is that I remain eager to conclude the Proletariat trilogy. Oh, and if you're wondering what "Ariel" means, I'll just say that if you're a movie lover and your first thought is what I assume it is, you are in the ballpark.