Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana (1994)

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 ... See full summary »

Director:

Aki Kaurismäki

Writers:

Sakke Järvenpää, Aki Kaurismäki

Stars:

Kati Outinen, Matti Pellonpää, Kirsi Tykkyläinen

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kati Outinen	...	Tatjana
Matti Pellonpää	...	Reino
Kirsi Tykkyläinen	...	Klavdia
Mato Valtonen	...	Valdemar 'Valto' Reiman
Elina Salo	...	Hotel Receptionist
Irma Junnilainen	...	Valto's Mother
Veikko Lavi	...	Vepe
Pertti Husu	...	Pepe
Viktor Vassel	...	Bus Driver
Carl-Erik Calamnius	...	Petrol Station Attendant
Atte Blom	...	Barkeeper 1
Mauri Sumén	...	Barkeeper 2
Anu Aalto
Matti Ahjoniemi
Riitta Ahjoniemi

Storyline

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?

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Plot Keywords:

vodka | russian | estonian | coffee | sleeping | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Finland Germany

Language:

Finnish Russian

Release Date:

14 January 1994 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana

Filming Locations:

Finland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sputnik, Pandora Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The bar Reino and Valto are seen entering and the scene where they meet Tatjana and Klavdia for the first time was filmed near the city of Somero in Southwest Finland. The building is still standing and can be seen on Google Maps near the intersection of Helsingintie and Arimaantie roads.

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Connections

Featured in Bohemian Eyes (2011)

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Soundtracks

I've Been Unkind
Written and Arranged by Brown, Gibson, Johnson and Mallett
Performed by The Renegades

User Reviews

a tale of two societies

After seeing this movie I wondered how foreigners would experience it. Without knowledge of the social history of Finland in last century this movie must seem very strange. And if you know nothing about our civil war and the division of society these characters are devoid of meaning. Just two avoidant personalities, maybe? However from a Finnish perspective this is the perfect description of the outsiders of our society. The fellows who are left behind, but don´t agree with that viewpoint themselves. Who are stranded in the no-man´s-land between urban success and country desolation. They try to get along somehow and when they meet two Russian girls it´s the irony of fate staring them in the eye. The Russians are able to surpass social barriers without flinching, they just go on and talk, but these two Fenno-ugrian oedipal conflict prototypes can´t seem to find some meaning in this. Instead they resort to sulking, one of the basic Finnish social coping skills. What else can you do when you´ve got nothing in an otherwise expansive society, when there´s this huge discrepancy between your own success expectancies and reality, and when you watch the grandchildren of the victorious side in the Civil War pass you by. Not much, according to Kaurismäki who manages to make movies about that part of Finland that never goes to movies. For a Finn, the music is lovely as usual, the kind of music we grew up to after the war.