Drifting Clouds (1996)

The recession hits a couple in Helsinki.

Director:

Aki Kaurismäki

Writer:

Aki Kaurismäki

Stars:

Kati Outinen, Kari Väänänen, Elina Salo

10 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kati Outinen	...	Ilona Koponen
Kari Väänänen	...	Lauri Koponen
Elina Salo	...	Rouva Sjöholm (Mrs. Sjöholm)
Sakari Kuosmanen	...	Melartin
Markku Peltola	...	Lajunen
Matti Onnismaa	...	Forsström
Matti Pellonpää	...	Lapsi valokuvassa (Child in the Photograph) (credit only)
Pietari	...	Pietari
Shelley Fisher	...	Pianisti (Pianist)
Markus Allan	...	Orkesteri (Band)
Pauli Granfelt	...	Orkesteri (Band)
Kari Lindqvist	...	Orkesteri (Band)
Pentti Mutikainen	...	Orkesteri (Band)
Tommi Parkkonen	...	Orkesteri (Band)
Taisto Wesslin	...	Orkesteri (Band)

Storyline

Tram driver Lauri loses his job. Shortly later, the restaurant where his wife Ilona works as a head waitress is closed. Too proud to receive money from the social welfare system, they strive to find new jobs. But they are completely unlucky and clumsy, one disaster is followed by the next.

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Plot Keywords:

tram driver | tram | work | waitress | restaurant | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Homepage (The Finnish Film Foundation)

Country:

Finland Germany France

Language:

Finnish

Release Date:

10 July 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Drifting Clouds

Filming Locations:

Punavuori, Helsinki, Finland

Box Office

Budget:

FIM5,562,154 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sputnik, Yleisradio (YLE), Pandora Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was originally meant to be a direct sequel to Shadows in Paradise (1986), with Matti Pellonpää reprising his famous role as Nikander. Since Pellonpää died during pre-production, Aki Kaurismäki rewrote the entire script. However, the characters played by Kati Outinen and Sakari Kuosmanen still retain the names they had in the previous film (Ilona and Melartin, respectively).

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Quotes

Man of Olympia: [after Lauri has recovered from beating] You start distantly reminding a human being.

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Connections

Featured in Matka suomalaiseen elokuvaan: Naurua pimeässä (2006)

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Soundtracks

Syyspihlajan alla
Composed by Arvo Koskimaa
Lyrics by Veikko Virmajoki
Arranged by P. Vesa
Performed by Henry Theel

User Reviews

THe Finnish

To truly understand and appreciate Kauas pilvet karkaavat (Drifting Clouds)you need to understand something of the Finnish mindset, and to understand something of the Finns I would recommend this film. Kaurismaki is able to encapsulate and embody the Finns and Finland in his work. I have lived 10 months of my life in Finland, and I was therefore able to identify immediately with this film through my experiences of Finland and the Finns themselves (my dear friends there). This film captures the sense of space that Finland itself has, the sense of space that the Finns create around themselves (Finns appear to me to be somewhat unseasy with urban and city living, hence everyone's desire to escape to a kesamokki, summer cottages at the earliest possible time) and the understated, no-BS nature of the Finns themselves, it is the only country I know where it is truly possible to have confortable silences when conversing with people.

Silent despair, brought on by the extremes of the climate, Finland's relative isolation, the social problems that DO exist there (despite being a Scandinavian country with all the images of a freedom and social support that that may conjure), the expectation of conformity that exists within such small societies, and yet the strong innate desire of every Finn to truly assert an individual identity over within the framework of this 'organised freedom' are all apparent in this film and are how I observed Finland. The 'national' sport of drinking until one passes out, particularly during the dark days of winter, and when coping with depression or despair. To any Finns out there, this is not meant to cause offense, my apologies if these comments do.

Kaurismaki's use of long shots and one takes for a sequence of action (or non-action), and the sense of time and anticipation that they create, until you realise that the anticiption amounts to nothing, which is so in line with the Finnish sense of humour. It is always difficult to generalise about a particular nation and make sweeping statements that are meant to be applicable to all who live within the confines of those national boundaries. But as a small country (in terms of population) with a closely homogenous people, these traits are quite discernable, especially with the impact that the environment and climate brings...Drifting Clouds and the Leningrad Cowboys are two sides of the same coin...

I make this disclaimer, the film is actually gloomier than life there.