The Man Without a Past
2002 ‘Mies vailla menneisyyttä’ Directed by Aki Kaurismäki
Synopsis
The second part of Aki Kaurismäki's "Finland" trilogy, the film follows a man who arrives in Helsinki and gets beaten up so severely he develops amnesia. Unable to remember his name or anything from his past life, he cannot get a job or an apartment, so he starts living on the outskirts of the city and slowly starts putting his life back on track.
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Movie #3 in the 30 Countries Challenge: Finland
Aki Kaurismaki is the Finnish film industry, and his films are so unlike anything else being produced. He is definitely one of my favourite contemporary film makers, and The Man Without a Past ranks as one of the best films I have seen from him.
The film explores a proletariat identity crisis in Helsinki, where the titular memory-less main character is thrown into poverty at the very bottom of the social ladder. He struggles with corrupt landowners, violent gangs, and a social and financial system that is set against him. The film's location in the slums of Helsinki is filled with incredibly filthy and rough terrain, yet the main character makes the…
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I probably had seen this once before, but had forgotten most of it...
The Kaurismäki Stock Company are gathered once again. It's understandable that this is generally considered to be the director's best. It wouldn't be a true Kaurismäki if there wasn't personal tragedy below, here there are in fact several, but the black humor and general mood of it all lifts it up to become maybe his warmest story to date.
Markku Peltola is the man without a past. This happens when he is exposed to blind violence in a park and loses his memory. From there he ends up living in a container down by the harbor. The people down there are colorful and with warm hearts, that…
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Around the World in May-ty Days Challenge
Movie #3 - The Man Without a Past (Finland)Having seen his latest movie "Le Havre", i perfectly understand the Finnish director, Aki Kaurismaki's style. I was eager to watch The Man Without a Past because it is widely regarded as his best, plus it was nominated for an Oscar and it won a bunch of awards at Cannes. I was quite surprised to see how much similar in tone and subject i found it to be with Le Havre, yet it stood out thanks to the conviction and compassion that Kaurismaki usually finds in human beings, something that i rarely see these days. His style is dead pan but his stories are…
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Any director who can craft a compelling story without using an immediate, central conflict is worth his salt in my book. Though Aki Kaurismaki does have something of a conflict at the base of THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST, he doesn't explore it until the very end, and even then it seems very secondary. All the while, Kaurismaki's idiosyncratic portrait of modern day Helsinki is charmingly funny and memorable.
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Watched Kaurismäki's Man without a Past (2002) today. A simple, fresh, comic, feel-good film about a man who gets beaten when he arrives Helsinki and develops an amnesia. He becomes friends with some people and tries to start his life anew. Not as fascinating as Kaurismäki's Le Havre (Which I think is a masterpiece) but still liked it.
4/5
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After watching and loving La Havre, I decided I needed more Aki Kaurismäki in my life. I remember seeing this poster when it first came out. The bandage and Salvation Army uniform made me think it was some sort of World War II film. While it isn't a period film, it is sort of a film out of time. Like a Wes Anderson film, it is a thing unto itself. A world where hoodlums will stop a beating to turn on a radio and give themselves a soundtrack. Where a nameless man with no money can have a jukebox in his shanty apartment. I can also see how Kaurismäki has made an influence on Jim Jarmisch. Relatively minor story but adorable with lots of lovely moments.
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Kaurismaki has long been one of my blind spots. I've rectified that with The Man Without a Past which is an overwhelmingly pleasant film, but seldom much more than that. It's difficult to find much to say about it because it's strangely straightforward. The deadpan nature of the humor extends to the film itself. Life is absurd, Kaurismaki seems to say, but we know this, so why make a big deal about it? The lead--who is nameless not in order serve as an archetypal man but because he has forgotten his past--wonders through Helsinki encountering characters who run the gamut from mundane to bizarre: drifters speaking in riddles, men who live in dumpsters, musicians at the local Salvation Army. Kaurismaki's camera addresses them all with the same lack of affect. This is life. What are you going to do?
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Movie #3 in the 30 Countries Challenge: Finland
Aki Kaurismaki is the Finnish film industry, and his films are so unlike anything else being produced. He is definitely one of my favourite contemporary film makers, and The Man Without a Past ranks as one of the best films I have seen from him.
The film explores a proletariat identity crisis in Helsinki, where the titular memory-less main character is thrown into poverty at the very bottom of the social ladder. He struggles with corrupt landowners, violent gangs, and a social and financial system that is set against him. The film's location in the slums of Helsinki is filled with incredibly filthy and rough terrain, yet the main character makes the…
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Kaurismaki sigue retratando a las clases más bajas de la sociedad. Finlandia, un país que tan atractivo vemos desde la lejanía del sur de Europa, deja de resultar apetecible a través de la filmografía de Kaurismaki. Allí también hay pobres, allí también es difícil encontrar trabajo, allí también se pasa hambre.
Un hombre despierta sin memoria tras recibir una paliza a su llegada a Helsinki. Gracias a la caridad de una familia que vive prácticamente en la miseria, irá recuperando su memoria. Seguimos en ese género tan característico del finés: me río? pero si esto es triste! lloro? perso si esto es gracioso! Demuestra, una vez, que se encuentra muy cómodo en esas situaciones ridículamente tristes.
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Around the World in May-ty Days Challenge
Movie #3 - The Man Without a Past (Finland)Having seen his latest movie "Le Havre", i perfectly understand the Finnish director, Aki Kaurismaki's style. I was eager to watch The Man Without a Past because it is widely regarded as his best, plus it was nominated for an Oscar and it won a bunch of awards at Cannes. I was quite surprised to see how much similar in tone and subject i found it to be with Le Havre, yet it stood out thanks to the conviction and compassion that Kaurismaki usually finds in human beings, something that i rarely see these days. His style is dead pan but his stories are…
-
Watched Kaurismäki's Man without a Past (2002) today. A simple, fresh, comic, feel-good film about a man who gets beaten when he arrives Helsinki and develops an amnesia. He becomes friends with some people and tries to start his life anew. Not as fascinating as Kaurismäki's Le Havre (Which I think is a masterpiece) but still liked it.
4/5
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Quirky, charming picture about memory, love, and coupling.
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After watching and loving La Havre, I decided I needed more Aki Kaurismäki in my life. I remember seeing this poster when it first came out. The bandage and Salvation Army uniform made me think it was some sort of World War II film. While it isn't a period film, it is sort of a film out of time. Like a Wes Anderson film, it is a thing unto itself. A world where hoodlums will stop a beating to turn on a radio and give themselves a soundtrack. Where a nameless man with no money can have a jukebox in his shanty apartment. I can also see how Kaurismäki has made an influence on Jim Jarmisch. Relatively minor story but adorable with lots of lovely moments.
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Aki Kaurismäki is one of Finland's most well-known directors and yet I've never seen any of his films before. This one feels quite unlike anything I've seen. It's surreal, sad and funny at the same time. More Kaurismäki for me perhaps?
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Very good thematic follow up to Drifting Clouds. His films all have an understated charm.