Another beautifully observed vignette from the mind of Aki Kaurismaki. Kati Outinen may not be the most beautiful woman in Europe, but like Guiletta Massima, she owns every scene she's in. Kaurismaki's usual suspects deliver a tight ensemble piece drenched in bathos, and inspired by the indomitable spirit of honest working people. The fatalism that cloaks the the lives of the central characters as they fall on successively harder times, until all they have left is their dignity. The sound of the unseen roulette wheel in the unseen casino interior is the death rattle for their minimal life savings. Naturally, with this being a modern fable, Kaurismaki will not let his heroes suffer in eternity, and manages to engineer a happy ending, albeit one with a heartstopping pirouette.
The score is a delight, from the piano player's melancholy jazz introduction to the tango lament at the last night of the Dubrovnik. Kaurismaki has an ear for haunting songs, and always sets them perfectly in context.
As noted by other reviewers, this is the complete antithesis to the crash, bang, wallop, ersatz hysteria of Hollywood. Personally, I find it it all the more thrilling for that. It's a white-knuckle ride through the despair of sudden unemployment, tinged with touching fidelity, optimism and above all, dignity. Bravo, Aki.
The score is a delight, from the piano player's melancholy jazz introduction to the tango lament at the last night of the Dubrovnik. Kaurismaki has an ear for haunting songs, and always sets them perfectly in context.
As noted by other reviewers, this is the complete antithesis to the crash, bang, wallop, ersatz hysteria of Hollywood. Personally, I find it it all the more thrilling for that. It's a white-knuckle ride through the despair of sudden unemployment, tinged with touching fidelity, optimism and above all, dignity. Bravo, Aki.