FAST-FIN-1 Finnish Institutions Research Papers

Aki Kaurismäki’s 'Finland Trilogy':
The Struggle of the Blue-collar Finn, Served Three Ways
Asta Sandbacka, Spring 2009 (GB)
A FAST-FIN-1 (TRENAK1) Finnish Institutions Research Paper
FAST Area Studies Program
Department of Translation Studies, University of Tampere

Aki Kaurismäki is one of the most famous contemporary Finnish movie directors. He is also one of the most appreciated, both in Finland and abroad. In 2003 Kaurismäki became the first Finn whose movie (The Man without a Past) was nominated for an Oscar. He has won numerous awards both in Finland and in international film festivals. Since the early 1980s Kaurismäki has directed 15 full-length movies, several short movies and even a few documentaries, many of which are known for criticizing Finnish society. What are the common characteristics in his movies? How is he different from other Finnish directors? How do his movies criticize Finnish society?

Why is it important to study Finnish cinema and Kaurismäki in particular?

It may be self-evident that Finnish movies would have something essential to say about what it is like to be Finnish. Finnish movies are an essential part of the national culture. Thus by studying the Finnish cinema industry something can be learned about Finns and Finnish society.

In the spring of 2008 Finland’s President Tarja Halonen awarded Aki Kaurismäki the prestigious title of Academician of Art. “Academician of Art” is a title that only eight Finnish artists can carry at the same time. As the Arts Council of Finland explained,

Since his first work, Aki Kaurismäki has had a recognisable cinematic style of his own. An essential feature of this style, which could even be described as minimalist, is its link to Finland and Finnishness. Aki Kaurismäki's "working class trilogy" and "Finland trilogy" portray Finland in a completely novel, coarse and reduced way. [...] Aki Kaurismäki is internationally known as a Finnish filmmaker who, in spite of his international career, is deeply linked with Finnish society and cultural life through his films and otherwise. (Film)

There is also another famous Kaurismäki, Aki’s brother Mika. The Kaurismäki brothers have been the most visible Finnish directors both in Finland and abroad since the 1980s (Cinema). This paper will concentrate solely on the works of Aki, which are seen particularly as depicting Finnish society. The films of Mika Kaurismäki, by comparison, are perceived as being more international. Aki Kaurismäki has won numerous awards not only in Finland but also internationally at film festivals, for example in Berlin and Cannes. Two of his movies (Lights in the Dusk and The Man without a Past) have been nominated for Oscars, even if he himself doesn’t care for this kind of attention (Aki, Coslovitch). The multiple awards and nominations are clear signs that his work is valued and appreciated both in Finland and abroad.

Finns as underdogs

In Kaurismäki’s movies the cinematic conception of "reality" is closely entwined with the lives of blue-collar workers (Kyösola 168). The heroes and heroines in his movies are bus drivers, welders and restaurant workers. As Kaurismäki puts it, ”I describe the reality that’s familiar to me. I started making movies from a gutter and I have not gotten very far from it, and frankly don’t even want to. I have nothing to say about an assistant manager at an exchange-listed company and his troubles with marriage or choices in cars” (Forss). The workers in his movies face many difficulties, most of which are not their own fault. The enemy is usually invisible or might become visible only via an absurd bureaucracy.

Depicting working class Finns in art is far from a new trend. Upper-class poets and writers were already doing this in the 1800s. In those days it was common for the educated classes to be the ones describing the lives of the working class in an idealized manner (Kyösola 169-170). One could argue that, considering Kaurismäki’s own background as a blue-collar worker (Hernes describes him as having worked, for example, as a postman and a dishwasher) he has a better basis for his descriptions. Kaurismäki has said about his characters, "I had some years when I only had a sleeping bag. So I like losers. I am a loser myself" (Coslovitch).

The Finland trilogy: stories about the unemployed, the homeless and the lonely

The Finland trilogy (sometimes called the Suomi trilogy) consists of movies that handle unemployment, homelessness and loneliness, which have been difficult problems in Finnish society in the past two decades (Asunnottomuuden, Holm, Pokkinen). The movies in the trilogy are Drifting Clouds [Kauas pilvet karkaavat] (1996), The Man without a Past [Mies vailla menneisyyttä] (2002) and Lights in the Dusk [Laitakaupungin valot] (2006). Some critics have called this trilogy the ”loser trilogy” (Marttila). However, "Finland trilogy" is the most common name used by both critics and fans. Therefore it will also be used in this paper.

Kaurismäki has produced two trilogies. The trilogies consist of independent movies revolving around the same theme. The Finland trilogy is the more recent one. The first trilogy consisted of Shadows in Paradise [Varjoja paratiisissa] (1986), Ariel [Ariel] (1988), and The Match Factory Girl [Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö] (1990) and it has been called the ”proletariat trilogy”, the ”workers’ trilogy” and the ”working-class trilogy”. 1

The Finland trilogy is particularly interesting because it was a breakthrough for Kaurismäki both in Finland and abroad. Drifting Clouds got only 49,691 viewers in 1996 (Kotimaiset) but 142,026 Finns saw The Man without a Past in 2002. By contrast, 136,112 went to see Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone the same year (Katsotuimmat). The Harry Potter movies have been a commercial success around the world, so these numbers prove that The Man without a Past was very popular in Finland. The fact that the critics nicknamed the movies “the Finland trilogy” suggests that the movies are perceived above all as stories of Finland. It must be that the movies not only depict Kaurismäki’s own special world but also the Finland seen through the viewer’s eyes. The Finnish audience can identify with the struggles of the working-class characters and the overall melancholic atmosphere. The audience can recognize the long pauses between the lines, the apparent lack of emotion and the subtle pitch-black humour as essentially Finnish.

Drifting Clouds tells a story about a couple called Lauri and llona. Lauri is a tram driver and Ilona is a butler at a fine dining restaurant in Helsinki called Dubrovnik. 2 Lauri’s supervisor needs to lay off a few men, and Lauri is chosen. Soon afterwards Ilona hears that Dubrovnik is going to be sold and the new owners will change the whole concept – as well as the staff. Ilona and Lauri are then both unemployed and struggle to find new jobs, but many difficulties arise in the 1990s depression-era Finland. In the end collaboration and solidarity prove to be a solution to their predicament.

Other Finnish directors have hesitated to depict the 1990s depression. It might still be a difficult subject for many Finns. Unemployment rose from 3.5% up to 18.9% in just a few years (Holm), and few Finnish families were not affected. Even if they did not lose their jobs the overall atmosphere was very gloomy. The atmosphere is the same in Drifting Clouds, there is a feeling of impending and inevitable doom until the very end. Kaurismäki has said that he could not look in the mirror if he hadn’t done a movie about the depression (in Bagh 163-164). He was courageous in grabbing a difficult, tender subject that no one else was willing to depict.

The Man without a Past starts with a scene of a man arriving in Helsinki by train. The man, M, gets mugged in a park and loses consciousness. He wakes up alone at a hospital and leaves immediately upon wakening, only to realize that he has lost his memory. He can’t even recall his own name. The bureaucrats don’t take M seriously, but he finds new friends from other homeless wretches and from the Salvation Army. He struggles to find a new life in Helsinki and a new destiny for himself, but he has to climb many barriers before succeeding. The Man without a Past revolves around the same themes as Drifting Clouds, taking it a bit further with the added theme of homelessness.

Lights in the Dusk is a movie about loneliness. Koistinen is a night guard who is bullied by his co-workers and who has no friends outside his work. He yearns for human contact, and because of this ends up being dragged into a robbery against his will. He goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit because he wants to protect the femme fatale who betrayed him. Whereas the first two movies of the trilogy feature a lot of the dry, black humour which is typical of Kaurismäki, there is less humour in Lights in the Dusk. Even though a glimmering of hope is given at the open end of the movie, the overall atmosphere makes it a particularly gloomy film. Unlike in the two previous movies no one steps in to save Koistinen from his jail sentence. It may be that Kaurismäki has lost hope in the battle of the little guy against the system. The bureaucrats sacrifice responsibility and courtesy for capitalism and profit. Therefore the system can’t understand or support an honest, polite and responsible individual (von Bagh, Aki 205).

The minimalistic aesthetics of Aki Kaurismäki

Kaurismäki is so dedicated to movie-making that he tries to keep his movie budgets to a minimum to make sure that no outside producers are needed. When he writes, directs and produces the movies himself he doesn’t have to give control to anyone else (Forss). In an interview with the noted film critic Helena Ylänen Kaurismäki admitted that there is no in-between format for him. If he is using a script he wants to follow it right down to the smallest detail in dialogue. His methods are extreme; the actors are not allowed to rehearse the scenes before shooting and he uses only one take for every scene. This might be of advantage when searching for genuine reactions in the actors.

Kaurismäki has such a style of intimacy and utter minimalism that some critics have compared him to Robert Bresson (von Bagh, Drifting 105), whose movies were ”the most severe and controlled works in the history of cinema both ethically and aesthetically” (Bacon, Toiviainen). Aesthetics are indeed very important to Kaurismäki. He has even mentioned that the set design is the most important thing, and only then come the actors and the dialogue (Ylänen). Kaurismäki wants to be in full control of all the sets. All the walls are re-painted according to colour charts he chooses (von Bagh, Aki 184). This way he can be in total control of the atmosphere in every scene. A typical scene is described in the next paragraph.


Scene from Lights in the Dusk, 2006.
Mirja is visiting Koistinen at his home.
Koistinen is trying to approach her but she has other plans.
Image courtesy of Strand Releasing.

The importance of aesthetics can be seen from the screenshot at right. In this scene Koistinen is trying to approach the distant Mirja. He is in love and has not yet realized that Mirja is only using him. Koistinen’s body is turned towards Mirja, whereas Mirja is facing forwards, making no contact with him. Strong colours indicate strong emotions. The combination of reds and blues could be seen as depicting a conflict in emotion or motivation. Blue is a cool, distant colour, whereas red is passionate and warm. This is only one example of how Kaurismäki uses visual contrasts in his movies.

When set design is as polished as Kaurismäki’s, it is obvious that no excessive dialogue is needed. Finns are generally not very talkative compared to other nationalities. Taciturnity is not necessarily considered a negative feature in Finnish culture; it might rather be regarded as being polite to others and respecting their space.

In addition to aesthetics, other distinctive characteristics in Kaurismäki’s movies are the insightful depictions of the lives of blue-collar-workers, or ”losers” as Kaurismäki tenderly calls them (von Bagh, Aki 184). Humanism is a recurrent theme in his movies (von Bagh, Drifting 105). As is common in the movies of the famous director Luis Buñuel, the “losers” in Kaurismäki’s films are as complicated as normal humans are but the bureaucrats are described as simplistic and wooden (von Bagh, Aki 194).

The many aspects of Kaurismäki's works

Even if the existence of an actual working class could be questioned in today’s Finland, it is self-evident that there are still workers. Or in Kaurismäki’s words, “there are those who have money and those who don’t” (Forss). The Finland trilogy may have become so popular because it depicts the problems and emotions, the frustration and the hope that many Finns (and non-Finns as well) still go through in their everyday lives.

There is also the humorous aspect. Finns are often seen as carrying a dark, dry sense of humour. This is especially true in Kaurismäki’s movies. Kaurismäki’s humour is brought out with economy of expression in dry, short sayings by his usually poker-faced characters. Kaurismäki is a master of black humour (Coslovich).

Minimalism is an aspect that Kaurismäki wishes to take even further. He says that minimalism was a natural choice of style for him, as back when he started making movies in Finland there really were no alternatives, the movie industry and its equipment were so undeveloped (Forss).

Kaurismäki sees himself as more of a craftsman; movies are only movies if they are screened in the traditional analog (as opposed to the modern, digital) way. He has said that if it became impossible to film and edit movies in the traditional way he would quit making movies altogether (von Bagh, Aki 185-186). 3 However, in winter 2008 Kaurismäki reluctantly gave in and let the Proletariat trilogy be presented digitally in European cinemas. Digital screening is very inexpensive compared to spinning traditional film reels, which is one of the reasons digital is preferred in Europe nowadays. Kaurismäki explains that he was forced to give in, because people’s ability to read movies will suffer if they are not able to watch the film classics. According to him, the most important thing in watching movies is the overall experience that you only get in a movie theatre (Myllyoja).

Moreover, Kaurismäki also seems to be enamoured with the past in other ways as well (Scott). The music in his movies is often far from modern and up-to-date. He often mentions in interviews how he prefers old movies to recent ones (Coslovich). Disappointment in current affairs easily leads to romanticizing the past in the minds of the Finns.

Coincidence and necessity intrigue Kaurismäki (von Bagh, Aki 6). In the trilogy all three movies start out with coincidences: losing your job at the same time as your partner, getting mugged in the park or randomly meeting a femme fatale at a café. These coincidences inevitably lead to unfortunate chains of events. The heroes struggle to change their fates but are faced with several obstacles. Kaurismäki’s heroes are not active politically, but their destinies are strongly steered (or restricted) by social conventions. It is a battle between the individual and the system (von Bagh, Aki 165).

Kaurismäki's own moral values could be explained by a brief dialogue in The Man without a Past. M tries to pay an electrician who has helped him, but the electrician refuses and only asks for a possible favour in the future: "If you see me lying face down in the gutter," he says, "turn me on my back" (Scott). Kaurismäki is politically on the left, and his movies criticize the free market economy and 'affluent' western society. Money is not important to his characters; it is only an obligatory means of surviving in today's world, and even that is questioned in The Man without a Past. It seems that he prefers exchanging favours to money. Kaurismäki has also claimed to have exceptionally high morals in his personal life. He considers social responsibility to be a civil duty, even though it doesn't appear to be a common virtue in modern society. However Kaurismäki admits that even he could have done more for society (Forss).

Communication in Kaurismäki's movies

The type of language in Kaurismäki’s movies has become legendary. The dialogue in his movies is formal and even surreal by every-day standards. There is usually a lot of dry humour. It is evident that Kaurismäki values the Finnish language greatly; he has said that it is the home to his thoughts. He also thinks that no person can exist without a language (Forss). Thus the dialogue in his movies reveals quite a lot about the characters. He keeps the very formal dialogue to a minimum, which gives additional value to each sentence. This can be seen in the following example from The Man without a Past in a scene where M decides to move into an empty container dwelling by the shore:
M: ”When can I move in?”
Anttila: ”As soon as I turn my back.”
M: ”And the keys?”
Anttila: ”You see a lock anywhere?”
M: ”No.”
Anttila: ”Don't go splitting hairs then or I'll take the door, too.”
The characters show little emotion on their faces, and the sophisticated humour of this scene lies in the dialogue. The landlord Anttila sees no need to be overly courteous; it is later revealed that he fancies himself as a man with a tough image even though his personality is a lot softer.

Kaurismäki has also explained in interviews that he sometimes likes to replace dialogue with music: ”it does the same job” (Lepistö). This is evident in the Finland trilogy; several scenes contain little dialogue but have a carefully selected song playing in the background. The song You will not see a tear by Olavi Virta 4 appears relatively frequently in Kaurismäki’s films. It is featured both in Drifting Clouds and in Lights in the Dusk, as well as in one previous film. In Lights in the Dusk it is played as a description of Koistinen’s feelings after Mirja has left him (Lepistö). Koistinen does not describe his emotions verbally. Music can also be used to depict characteristics: the calm and collected Irma in The Man without a Past is shown listening to rock and roll privately in her home, which gives additional edge to her character and reveals her “inner rebel”. This is an attempt to show that there is more to Finnish workers than the eye can see, perhaps a revolution building up.

Since You will not see a tear is used so often in Kaurismäki’s films it must be looked into more deeply. The lyrics as described in Lepistö are:

“You will not see a tear, even when my heart is crying
You will not see my longing, even though you went away
I wiped away the tears
I wish tomorrow brings me comfort
I have given you my heart, my everything
All you gave me was pain in the soul
You will not see a tear, even when my heart is crying
You will not see my longing, even though you went away
I was happy once
Happy because I had you
When you wish for happiness
You will drink the bitter cup of broken dreams”
The lyrics could be interpreted as an analogue of Finnish mentality. It is considered a virtue to be able to hide one’s sorrows and carry on as if nothing has happened. You will also not see a tear in Kaurismäki’s films, not even when the characters are left homeless or when they have to say the final goodbyes to their loved ones. In Lights in the Dusk the last line of the lyrics even seems to be quite literal, as the song is heard while Koistinen is drinking alcohol. Attempting to drown one’s sorrows by drinking is a big problem for Finns.

The dialogue in Kaurismäki’s films differs from every-day language not only with its formal nature but also with its logic. Another example from The Man without a Past is from a scene where M and a bank teller have been locked in a bank vault and might soon die of suffocation:

M:”Do you mind if I smoke?”
Bank teller:”Does a tree mourn its fallen leaves?” (Scott)
Neither character panics in the situation; instead they act like they were chatting at a café on a perfectly normal afternoon. Repartee seems to be their way of coping in a devastating situation. Even if the language used in Kaurismäki’s films seems to have an odd logic that everyday Finnish does not, it is still true that Finns often like to talk about difficult subjects through a certain sarcastic, dry humour, as is also shown in the dialogue.

Hidden meanings in the Finland trilogy

There are certain aspects to Kaurismäki’s films that might not reveal themselves to an international audience unless they have a very good knowledge of Finnish culture. This is one of the reasons the movies are considered very “Finnish”.

Kaurismäki often uses the same actors in his movies. He knows he can trust actors with whom he has worked before. They require less assistance from the director. Kati Outinen and Matti Pellonpää, both very talented, have been among his favourites, having successfully acted many different roles. Matti Pellonpää was supposed to act the role of the butler in Drifting Clouds but his sudden death changed everything. The filming hadn’t yet started, and at first Kaurismäki thought he couldn’t make the movie. Pellonpää was a close friend to the cast, and Kaurismäki didn’t think any other male actor could have been put into the role he had specifically written for Pellonpää. However, knowing Pellonpää’s work ethics, Kaurismäki realized that Pellonpää would have been very angry if the film would not be made because of his death.

Eventually Kaurismäki came up with a solution. He switched the roles around and Kati Outinen became the butler (von Bagh, Aki 159). The movie was made as a tribute to Pellonpää (Timonen, 261). In one scene Ilona, played by Outinen, visits a cemetery in Helsinki. The gravestone is not shown to the audience, but it is in fact Pellonpää’s. Pellonpää also emerges one last time in the movie when Ilona’s and her husband’s bookshelf is filmed: there is a picture of a child (supposedly the couple’s deceased child), which is actually a picture of Pellonpää as a child (Timonen, 261).

There is a scene in Drifting Clouds where the supervisor divides a set of playing cards among several tram drivers to see who is going to get laid off. The subtle humour in this otherwise seemingly cruel scene comes from the actor playing the supervisor; he is Solmu Mäkelä, one of the best known Finnish magicians (von Bagh, Aki 164).

The late lawyer Matti Wuori has a cameo role in The Man without a Past. Wuori was a radical intellectual who also had political significance in Finland. After Wuori passed away, Kaurismäki said in an interview that half of the Finnish intelligentsia had just disappeared and the other half was just an assumption (Forss). Wuori’s role in the movie is to come and save the hero, M, from jail. An arrogant policeman is keeping M locked up under certain sections of law, but Wuori comes in and starts quoting other sections of law in a very detailed and intellectual manner. This leaves the policeman dumbfounded and M is released.

Annikki Tähti is a famous Finnish schlager 5 singer who has had a significant career since the 1950s. She has a small role in The Man without a Past as a Salvation Army officer. When the officer coyly reveals “I myself have done some singing when I was younger”, the humour might go unnoticed by foreign viewers who do not know Tähti’s background. She becomes the singer of the Salvation Army rock band, and in one scene they play Do you remember Monrepos?, which was Tähti’s own breakthrough song in the 1950s. The song is a nostalgic memoir about the life in a park Finland lost to the former Soviet Union in the 1940s.

Kaurismäki’s trusted actress Kati Outinen has an almost invisible role in Lights in the Dusk. She portrays a cashier at a grocery store. Her name tag says “Ilona”, which was the name of her character in Drifting Clouds. This could be taken as a sign that Kaurismäki didn’t believe in the movie’s original happy, hope-restoring ending. Perhaps Ilona’s new restaurant that is shown at the end of Drifting Clouds was not a success after all, and she was forced to become a cashier.

Kaurismäki as a teacher

Kaurismäki bases his films on one central theme: the working-class Finn. He investigates the different sides of this theme and tries to bring back the appreciation of the worker. This is an important subject, because the 1990s depression harmed the self-image of many Finns. Indeed, it still affects them. This is also shown through Kaurismäki’s works.

The common characteristics in his movies are the uncompromising cinematography, the breathtaking aesthetics and the eccentric dialogue. The themes he has chosen are not common for Finnish directors and neither are his strict methods. Kaurismäki is a unique moviemaker not only in Finland but also internationally.

Kaurismäki himself might be pessimistic about the future, but through his movies Finnish people can learn important aspects about themselves that are hard to describe outside art. This is even more valuable now in 2009 when it would appear that Finns stand at the brink of worldwide depression. Kaurismäki can help Finns understand their emotions, as Finnish culture has never been about heart-to-heart conversations and many Finns are baffled when faced with unforeseen feelings. He dares to discuss subjects that are uncomfortable to Finns, such as homelessness, loneliness and unemployment. Kaurismäki’s emphasis is on social interaction and common humanity as solutions to societal problems.

Notes

  1. Kaurismäki himself offers little help with playful sayings like "one is a working-class trilogy, and the other is a loser trilogy, but I don't know which is which" (Marttila).
  2. Dubrovnik was not an actual restaurant at the time of the filming, but later on Kaurismäki purchased a restaurant in Helsinki which he named Dubrovnik. It is located on Eerikinkatu street.
  3. This might be compared with the on-going debate on compact discs versus vinyl discs, where the compact discs are seen as “plastic”.
  4. Olavi Virta was a famous Finnish singer, who has also been called “The king of Finnish tango”.
  5. Schlager is a style of pop music popular in Finland. Schlager songs are often very sentimental or melancholic. The melodies are light and catchy.

Works Cited

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