Calamari Union (1985)

Director:

Aki Kaurismäki

Writer:

Aki Kaurismäki

Release Date:

8 February 1985 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

An exodus to a better life in Eira

Plot Keywords:

Journey | People With Same Name | Lure | Odyssey | Cult Favorite

Cast

Timo Eränkö	...	Frank
Kari Heiskanen	...	Frank
Asmo Hurula	...	Frank
Sakke Järvenpää	...	Frank
Sakari Kuosmanen	...	Frank Armoton (as Saku Kuosmanen)
Dave Lindholm	...	Homeless man
Mikko Mattila	...	Frank
Pate Mustajärvi	...	Frank
Tuomari Nurmio	...	Taxi driver / bum (as Hannu Nurmio)
Pirkka-Pekka Petelius	...	Frank
Matti Pellonpää	...	Frank
Pertti Sveholm	...	Frank
Martti Syrjä	...	Frank
Pantse Syrjä	...	Frank
Markku Toikka	...	Pekka
Mato Valtonen	...	Frank
Puntti Valtonen	...	Frank
Kari Väänänen	...	Frank
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sanna Fransman
Heinäsirkka
Heimo Holopainen	...	Man on the street
Pirkko Hämäläinen	...	Airport secretary
Paavo Piskonen	...	Psychiarist
Sohvi Sirkesalo
Aki Kaurismäki	...	Chauffeur (uncredited)
Mari Rantasila	...	Hotel Maid (uncredited)

Directed by
Aki Kaurismäki

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Aki Kaurismäki

Produced by
Aki Kaurismäki	....	producer

Original Music by
Mikko Mattila
Jone Takamäki
Casablanca Vox

Cinematography by
Harri Laakso
Mikko Mattila
Heikki Ortamo
Timo Salminen

Film Editing by
Aki Kaurismäki
Raija Talvio

Costume Design by
Susanna Laurola

Sound Department
Risto Asikainen	....	sound
Jukka Hirvikangas	....	sound
Jouko Lumme	....	sound
Kjell Westman	....	sound

Production Companies

• Villealfa Filmproduction Oy

Distributors

• Al!ve AG (2007) (Germany) (DVD) (Aki Kaurismäki Collection 3)
• Finnkino

Also Known As:

Runtime:

Sweden:84 min | USA:80 min

Country:

Finland

Language:

English | Finnish

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Helsinki, Finland

Company:

Villealfa Filmproduction Oy

Trivia:

The lengthy monologue of Matti Pellonpää is an exact rendition of the poem "La grasse matinée", written by poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When the Franks break into the nightclub for a drink and are sitting at the bar, the boom is clearly visible in one of the mirrors behind the bar.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Frank:Gentlemen! I don't want to tire you and especially myself by going through those many reasons which make life completely impossible in this part of the city. We all know the circumstances forced on us in our early years: crowded homes, ignorance and hunger...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Matka suomalaiseen elokuvaan: Kaupunkiblues (#1.3)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Stand by my

A not entirely successful mix of absurd randomness, scathing social critique and eccentric, deadpan humor

Kaurismaki followed on the dour and heavy drama of his debut Crime and Punishment with the often funny, significantly more light-hearted, absurdist fare of Calamari Union. Fifteen guys named Frank and their retarded companion Pekka (who speaks English for some reason) decide to leave their seedy downtown neighborhood and dead-end lives behind and move to the suburb of Eira, on the other side of the city. Eira immediately acquires a quasi-mythic status, equal parts promised land and elysian fields, and their trip through the hostile, soulless city landscape is beset with hardships worthy to a trip filled with such religious allegories.

There's not much of a plot to speak of. The Franks make their way through the city and is every man out for himself. Once in a while they stop to comment on their surroundings, sleep in phone booths, trees and other strange places, offer nuggets of wisdom about vanity, inactivity, time and age, part scathing social critique and part insights into human nature; they also stop to hijack members of the parliament, a hearse, get free rides in a taxi or on top of a car, sleep in a beach or under a table and last but not least, die funny or just plain random deaths.

That is Calamari Union in a nutshell and there lie both its charms and failures. It has the improvised feeling of a freejazz piece - like them, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It can be inspired, infectiously cool and funny but it can also be meandering and aimless. You take the good with the bad I guess.