Ariel (1988)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Aki Kaurismäki

Writer:

Aki Kaurismäki (writer)

Release Date:

October 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Crime | Romance

Plot:

The movie tells the story of Taisto Kasurinen, a finnish coal miner whose father has just committed...

Plot Keywords:

Unemployment | Black Suit Clad Killer | Sequel

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Turo Pajala	...	Taisto Kasurinen
Susanna Haavisto	...	Irmeli Pihlaja
Matti Pellonpää	...	Mikkonen
Eetu Hilkamo	...	Riku
Erkki Pajala	...	Kaivosmies
Matti Jaaranen	...	Pahoinpitelijä
Hannu Viholainen	...	Apuri
Jorma Markkula	...	Prikkamies
Tarja Keinänen	...	Nainen Satamassa
Eino Kuusela	...	Mies rannalla
Kauko Laalo	...	Asuntolanhoitaja
Jyrki Olsonen	...	Mies Asuntolassa
Esko Nikkari	...	Autokauppias
Marja Packalén	...	Tuomari (as Marja Packalen)
Mikko Remes	...	Vankilalääkäri

Also Known As:

Ariel (USA)

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

Finland

Language:

Finnish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-12 (original rating) | Iceland:L | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:Not Rated

Company:

Finnish Film Foundation

Trivia:

Aki Kaurismäki wrote the script over a weekend.

Quotes:

Taisto Olavi Kasurinen: [Taisto is discussing with his cell-mate] Listen, Mikkonen!
Mikkonen: I don't think I can help it.
Taisto Olavi Kasurinen: I have decided to get out of here soon.
Mikkonen: I see. How?
Taisto Olavi Kasurinen: Don't know yet. Somehow.
Mikkonen: Getting out of here is no big deal, many people have made it. But they've been brought back and ended up doing twice as much time as before. That's because they have stayed here or gone to Sweden. Or headed to the nearest bar and got loaded. You've got to go further away. Italy or Africa, first at least.
Taisto Olavi Kasurinen: I've been thinking about Mexico or Brazil.
Mikkonen: Even better. But that costs money. You really think that I haven't planned it all a hundred times? First you nedd three grand for a passport and ten more for the seamen to hide you in the cargo ans to put you off somewhere around the equator. But it's dangerous. If the cargo begins to shift in a storm... Many have died that way. You must go underground until you get a passport and find the right ship.
Taisto Olavi Kasurinen: How many years do you have left?
Mikkonen: Eight years, for manslaughter. But I'm innocent.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Features High Sierra (1941)

Soundtrack:

Menneitä muistellessa

Kaurismäki meets Tarantino.

In this movie, the second chapter of the "workers" trilogy, Aki Kaurismäki cunningly mixes social drama and hard-boiled gangster film with impressive results, creating an opus that's both deeply touching and cruelly funny - often in the same scene.

The film revolves around Taisto Kasurinen (Turo Pajala), who comes to Helsinki in search for a job. He manages to get something to do at the docks, and also embarks on a relationship with a single mother. Naturally, being this Kaurismäki, good things don't last that long: Kasurinen is framed for a crime he didn't commit and sent to jail. Once there, he starts planning his escape with cell-mate Mikkonen (the consistently good Matti Pellonpää). As it turns out, escaping isn't that hard; it's not getting caught again that causes trouble...

I've always liked Kaurismäki's films for how they show people who are on the edge of desperation, and still find the strength to move on. It's the kind of movies we don't see that often (the only other director I can think of who tells these stories is Ken Loach). This time, he adds shades of crime comedy (Kasurinen and Mikkonen meet some bad people and end up in some awkward situations), with a couple of scenes that are among the darkest, and at the same time funniest, he's ever shot ( one of the film's best sequences anticipates Pulp Fiction by six years).

And let's not forget the ending. Without ruining anything, I can say the beautiful conclusion contains a notorious film song - in Finnish!

Truly priceless.