Better Late Then Never

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Minor spoiler alert! I'm still trying to figure out how to rate this movie. I just watched it last night (07/15/2017), but I don't know what to think of it. The synopsis asks if Nikander can break his losing streak. Well, if he did the right thing, that which his heart advised him to do, then his losing streak was broken. However, did he do it or not? I couldn't tell. His intentions were pure, but the full evidence/proof of his action was not known. Interesting to say the least. How does one know if he returned what was in the box with the box he did return? You'll have to watch to see for yourself. What was this movie about? A loser? Whose watching it? The loser in all of us?This movie has a high rating, but probably because of it's simplicity and it's depiction of every day characters, which is played out very well considering the 80's filming decade with the popularity of cigarettes, etc. To me, the movie was good, not great! I'll give it a decent rating because of the English subtitles and the ease of reading them, while trying to watch the movie. At the very least, I could have my television volume down low and read what they were saying, all the while trying to figure out why the words go with the pictures. I'm into foreign films as well, so I appreciate the opportunities to watch some of them.

Finnish writer and director Aki Kaurismaki's third feature film is the first in his trilogy about the Finnish working-class which was succeeded by "Ariel" (1988) and "The Match Factory Girl" (1990). It tells the story of middle-aged garbage driver Nikander who is approached one day at work by his colleague who has decided that he refuses to end his days behind the steering wheel. Nikander's friend presents him with an idea about starting an own company and wants him as his partner. Nikander likes the idea, but when his friend dies from a heart attack the following day, Nikander loses his faith. Nikander continues his days with driving garbage and attending an English course until the day he spots cashier lady IIona. Nikander invites her out on a date, but she loses interest in him when he brings her along to play bingo. Nikander proceeds with his ritualistic life, but the day IIona is fired from her job he receives a call which reimburses his faith. IIona wants to go to Helsinki and together they embark on a trip towards brighter prospects.Finnish director Mika Kaurismaki's little brother Aki Kaurismäki, one of Europe's greatest and most original filmmakers, has created a distinctly innovating and minimalistic style of filmmaking with films such as "I Hired A Contract Killer" (1990), "Drifting Clouds" (1996) and "The Man Without A Past" (2002). His low-keyed, stringently structured and bittersweet films are characterized by few characters, minimal dialog, dry and sarcastic humor and a language which without exception is standard Finnish. The genius with Aki Kaurismäki is that through his remarkable stories he manages to clarify the precious value of humor. This Finnish production which was produced by Aki Kaurismäki's older brother Mika Kaurismäki is a subtle and simple story about two love seeking human beings who due to their modest nature is distanced from one another and who creates unnecessary obstacles for one another. They both have hopes and dreams of a greater and better life, but their ideals are repeatedly challenged by faith's unpredictable intervention.The directing, the cinematography, the film editing, the narrative, the dialog, the atmosphere, the pace and the very realistic milieu depictions is in accordance with Aki Kaurismäki's usual style in this acute comedy drama about everyday life, interpersonal relations, identity, love and the Finnish working-class during the late 1980s. The acting performances by the director's frequent collaborators Kati Outinen and Matti Pellonpää (1951-1995) is marvellous and their characters' colorful personalities creates a fine contrast to the films underlying melancholy. This character-driven and dialog-driven joy spreader which gained the award for Best Film at the Jussi Awards in 1987 presents the viewers to an incomparable cinematic universe and it is an unconventional and romantic fable with a great heart and a poetry of faith that is drifting through the gray toned shadows which rests above Aki Kaurismäki's rare paradise.

After a stunning debut, Crime and Punishment, and a bizarre, experimental second feature, Calamari Union, Aki Kaurismäki began doing what he's best at: telling the stories of Finnish underdogs'everyday experiences. And it all started with Shadows in Paradise, the first installment of the "workers trilogy" (continued with Ariel and The Match Factory Girl), and arguably Kaurismäki's finest film (at least until he made The Man Without a Past). It also marked his first collaboration with Kati Outinen, who has become the very symbol, alongside the late Matti Pellonpää, of Kaurismäki's cinema.Fittingly, Pellonpää and Outinen are the leading couple of shadows in Paradise. He reprises the role of Nikander he previously played in Crime and Punishment, with more English lessons (which originate his best line, at the end of the film) and trouble at work: his plans to start his own business get buried with his associate (Esko Nikkari), who commits suicide five minutes into the movie. While looking for a new job, he meets Ilona (Outinen), who works as a cashier in a Helsinki supermarket. The two start hanging out, eventually forming a sweet, if platonic, bond, occasionally threatened by Nikander's apparent cynicism.The film's magic resides entirely in its minimalism: little dialogue, sober settings, raw, Finnish humor, real, likable characters and no overacting, as Kaurismäki tells his simple, universal, incredibly touching love story. Pellonpää and Outinen's understated, affecting performances complete each other, with valuable support from Sakari Kuosmanen as Melartin, Nikander's best friend, who even steals from his own daughter to finance his buddy's dates. Not that his behavior is exemplary, but it shows how much these people care for each other, and that's where Kaurismäki succeeds: he makes us emphasize with these characters despite their many flaws, and delivers an astounding, memorable picture.A true masterpiece of Finnish film-making, from the best director that country has ever spawned.

(possible spoiler in third-to-last paragraph, if taken in context)Before the late great film critic Jay Scott left this planet in the early 1990's, the "Globe and Mail" critic also hosted a weekly television program, "Film International", which provided an invaluable resource of foreign films for those in Ontario who wouldn't have access to them otherwise. One of the crowning events of this series was the month-long collection of Aki Kaurismaki films (and one by his brother, Mika). Then as now, Kaurismakilargely remains a well-kept secret among the film festival circuit. His delightfully deadpan works seldom get picked up for distribution in North America, which is a tragedy. He is one of the most original and interesting international filmmakers of the past quarter century.SHADOWS IN PARADISE was the first Kaurismaki film I ever saw, and of the eight or so I have screened since, this remains one of his finest works, and a valuable introduction to his world. It is a shame that this is still not available on video. Like his contemporary and friend, Jim Jarmusch, Kaurismaki makes films about anhedonic expressionless underdogs who mostly sit around and brood. (Is it any accident that this film is similarily titled to Jarmusch's STRANGER THAN PARADISE?) Both men take the simple set-up of Warhol filmmaking to another level. Their films are full of unobtrusive single-take scenes (or at least with minimal editing), moving portraits of lonely disenchanted people, very addictive viewing because you never know what happens next. Like Jarmusch or Chantal Akerman, Kaurismaki is a master of minimalist filmmaking.But what separates his work from others is his expert use of offscreen imagery (a kiss is represented by a hand holding a cigarette), the surprising spontaneity of his miserable characters (because the garbageman finds a record at the dump, he suddenly purchases a brand new stereo system in order to listen to it!), and a tacked-on, deliberately absurd happy ending (which impossibly gets his people out of the worst situations) which is meant to be his sly comment on the Hollywood films he despises.Like any great film auteur such as Altman, Fellini, Preston Surges, or even Almodovar, Kaurismaki's films are peopled with unforgettable, unique faces via his own stock company. Matti Pellonpaa is perfect as the garbage man (his slicked-back hair, big glasses and droopy moustache make him the quintessential oddball underdog), as is the blank-faced Kati Outinen, the recently fired supermarket cashier who finds romance with this man. Her flat, pale visage is like death warmed over-- her only cinematic equivalent is Falconetti in LA PASSION DE JEANNE D'ARC.SHADOWS IN PARADISE is the first of Kaurismaki's "loser" trilogy (followed by ARIEL and THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL). It is a hilariously deadpan, wonderfully dark, yet strangely sweet, and compulsive viewing experience. It is a crime that this movie has not been picked up by a video label. However you can, see this film!