Aki Kaurismäki night: Shadows in Paradise (1986) & Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana (1994)

By: börek - February 14th, 2025  Filed under: Filmavond

Saturday February 22, 2025, Aki Kaurismäki night: Shadows in Paradise (1986) & Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana (1994) * doors open at 19:00 * first film starts at 19:30 * second film starts at 21:00 * free entrance.

Shadows in Paradise (Varjoja paratiisissa, by Aki Kaurismäki, 1986, 1h 14m, in Finnish with English subtitles) – movie effectively set the template for the maestro’s singular style. Punctuated with bursts of primary colors, this beautiful wisp of a film finds a delicately negotiated optimism amid the ruins of its dashed dreams… An episode in the life of Nikander, a garbage man, involving the death of a coworker, a love affair and much more.

Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana (Pidä huivista kiinni, Tatjana, by Aki Kaurismäki, 1994, 1h 5m, in Finnish with English subtitles) – Lugubrious Finns Valto and Reino take to the road in search of coffee and vodka, without which their lives are not worth living. But their reveries are interrupted by the arrival of garrulous Russian Klaudia and Estonian Tatiana – who are clearly interested in the two men, despite the language barrier. But what are the chances of getting a response from men who prefer staring at vodka bottles to talking?

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to screen a movie, let us know: joe [at] lists [dot] squat [dot] net

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Black and White movie night: La Vie de Bohème (1992)

By: börek - April 1st, 2016  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday April 24th 2016, Black and White movie night: La Vie de Bohème (Aki Kaurismäki, 1992). In French with English subtitles. Door opens at 8pm, film begins at 9pm. Free admission.

La Vie de Bohème manages to mine more impact from the simple fact of movement than most movies can get even with a flurry of mobile shots and onscreen action. The title of the original novel translates to “Scenes from the Bohemian Life”, a title which could just as easily apply to a painting or set of paintings as it does to a film or collection of writings. Kaurismäki’s deep-focus shots are filled with the attention to detail and design that defines many of the greatest directors of onscreen comedy: Jerry Lewis, Frank Tashlin, and Kaurismäki’s contemporary Roy Andersson among them.

Unlike their color scenery and elaborate contraptions, however, (Andersson in particular is capable of a how’d-he-do-that craft in the tradition of stage magic) Kaurismäki’s compositions create the impression of a series of still lives in which his characters move tentatively about. The first shot captures the poet Marcel Marx (Andre Wilms) rummaging about in a heap of trash before he commits a violent pratfall, picking himself up with a bemused demeanor as he mutters about the predicament. What did he think would happen? […Lees verder]

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Ariel (Aki Kaurismäki, 1988)

By: börek - June 4th, 2008  Filed under: Filmavond

June 4, 2008 – Ariel by Aki Kaurismäki, 1988. Finnish language, English subs. Door open 20:00, film starts 20:30

The movie tells the story of Taisto Kasurinen, a Finnish coal miner whose father has just committed suicide and who is framed for a crime he did not commit. In jail, he starts to dream about leaving the country and starting a new life. He escapes from prison but things don’t go as planned…

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