Kuolleet lehdet
"A tragicomedy about two lonely people who meet at night in Helsinki."
The key to this movie’s winning emotional delicacy is its formal sturdiness. Every shot has a specific job to do and does it well. The performances are measured and restrained.
What constitutes a perfect film? A perfect film doesn’t have to be in any particular genre, in any event. A perfect film knows what it’s about, knows what it wants to say, and knows that even when what it has to say is unusually simple, what it says can’t be reduced to words or any form of description apart from the thing itself. Which means that a perfect film has to be seen in order for its perfection to be appreciated.
Ansa (Alma Pöysti) is a woman who works in a supermarket on an exploitative zero-hours contract, and resents that part of her job is to throw away perfectly good food at the end of the day; a sullen security guard clocks her giving stuff like this to desperate hungry people, and she is fired for trying to take home an expired sandwich.
Later Ansa finds herself in a karaoke bar where she meets a construction worker called Holappa (Jussi Vatanen), and there is a heartmelting connection between these two lonely people. They go on a very successful date to the cinema, although a subsequent series of terrible mishaps means that their relationship could be doomed – and here Kaurismäki may intend us to appreciate a filmic echo with An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Moreover, Holappa is a drinker, perhaps an alcoholic, and the booze brings out a nasty side.
Born in 1957 in Orimattila, Finland, Aki Kaurismäki is the undisputed master of deadpan cinema. Before finding his calling, he worked as a bricklayer, postman, and dishwasher—experiences that deeply inform his sympathetic portrayal of the working class. lKnown for his minimalist style, laconic humor, and unwavering focus on "losers" with dignity, Kaurismäki has carved out a unique space in world cinema. His Finland is a timeless place—often dubbed "Aki-land"—where 1950s cars, rockabilly music, and heavy silences coexist with modern struggles
Aki Kaurismäki is the undisputed master of deadpan melancholy. His cinematic universe is entirely his own: an anachronistic, neon-lit Finland populated by taciturn factory workers, rockabilly musicians, and stray dogs.
While his characters say very little, their environments—drenched in saturated primary colors, smoke-filled bars, and vintage rock ’n’ roll—speak volumes.
Core Characteristics of the Kaurismäki Style
The Deadpan Aesthetic: Dialogue is stripped down to the bare minimum. Characters deliver lines with an unwavering poker face, finding a bizarre, profound humor in total emotional restraint.
The Working-Class Focus: His truest masterpieces are his trilogies dedicated to the overlooked—the unemployed, the lonely, and the marginalized. He treats his characters with immense dignity, never mocking their plight.
Visual Anachronism: Kaurismäki’s films exist outside of time. Even his modern films feature 1960s jukeboxes, old-fashioned cars, retro typography, and a total absence of modern technology, creating a fairytale-like nostalgia.
Deep Humanism: Underneath the cold, industrial backdrops and cynical humor lies an unshakeable belief in human solidarity. Total strangers offer shelter; broken souls find quiet, fragile love.
Essential Viewing
1. The Proletariat Trilogy
This trio of films solidified his international reputation, tracking the quiet struggles of Helsinki's working class.
Shadows in Paradise (1986): A gentle, awkward romance between a garbage truck driver and a supermarket cashier.
Ariel (1988): A coal miner loses his job, inherits a convertible, and drifts into a series of unfortunate but deeply deadpan criminal misadventures.
The Match Factory Girl (1990): The darkest of the three. A masterpiece of narrative economy that follows a quiet factory line worker who seeks a cold, calculated revenge against a cruel world.
2. The Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989)
A brilliant pivot into absurdism, following "the worst rock and roll band in the world"—complete with foot-long quiffs and ridiculous pointed shoes—as they travel from the tundra to the American South.
3. The Man Without a Past (2002)
Perhaps his most celebrated work, winning the Grand Prix at Cannes. A man arrives in Helsinki, is beaten into a coma, wakes up with total amnesia, and has to rebuild his life from scratch living in a shipping container community. It is a stunningly warm testament to community and resilience.
4. Fallen Leaves (2023)
His latest return to form—a brilliant continuation of his working-class romances. It tracks two lonely people trying to find each other in a bleak world, punctuated by radio broadcasts of global conflict, dead-end jobs, and the quiet comfort of old movie theaters.
Production & Aesthetic Style
Director’s Method: Kaurismäki is famous for his "one-take" rule. He rarely allows actors to rehearse and prefers to capture the first authentic performance on film.
Cinematography: Shot by longtime collaborator Timo Salminen on 35mm film, utilizing a vibrant primary color palette (deep reds, teals, and blues) that contrasts with the characters' bleak lives.
Soundtrack: A diverse mix ranging from Finnish tango and blues to Schubert’s "Serenade." A standout scene features the Finnish "anti-pop" duo Maustetytöt (The Spice Girls) performing a gloomy synth-pop song in a karaoke bar.
Critical Reception & Awards
Cannes Film Festival: Won the Jury Prize (2023).
Rotten Tomatoes: Currently holds a 98% approval rating, praised for its "humanist" warmth and deadpan humor.
Golden Globes: Alma Pöysti received a nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.
