For quite some time, I have had an interest in Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki's body of work, but I never got around to watching it. Last night, I finally took a dive into the man;s critically acclaimed career and was left entertained and amused."The Man Without a Past" is the type of film that takes a cliché, Hollywood-type plot and twists it around to create a work of art that is unexpectedly unique. Rather than attempting to solve the mystery of the title character, Kaurismaki twists the simple plot to form a beautiful love story dipped in sadness and humor. Based on everything I have seen so far, Kaurismaki comes across as a Finnish Wes Anderson. His films are filled with deadpan humor, colorful, stylistic visuals, and the blending of tragedy and comedy. Fans of the very mainstream films of Anderson will likely adore these foreign treasures, and any fan of cinema in general should really check this comic gem out as soon as possible! It is quirky, beautiful, emotional, and hilarious.

The art of Finnish silence is beautifully captured to this Kaurismäki's movie. In Finland, one does not need words to say things. Controlled silence and meaningful looks work as well and often it isn't even recommended to speak about emotions and feeling to other people. Even when it's not a comedy it can still be funny occasionally and one can quite easily symphatize the main characters.Even though the plot is a quite easy to follow, there is a nice surprise in the end. The prejudice of Finnish melancholy gets wrecked a little with a happy ending. And it did warm my heart when the bad guys were beaten.

As I'm watching Kaurismaki's curious exploration of the human condition for the first time, I'm thinking that I don't like these folks very much--the defiantly aggressive landlord, for instance, with a dog that chews the nose off people who don't pay the rent.But the director, who begins his film with an aggressively violent act (much as happens in the Japanese film The Eel), then sets the viewer down in the new world in which his hapless protagonist ends up--slathered in bandages, passed out at the edge of an icy lake in Helsinki; first impressions give way to understanding in this sweetly humanistic film, as the hero rents a cargo container to live in, adopts the previously mentioned dog (who never once barks), teaches a Salvation Army Band some 50s rock and roll (hilarious!) and learns something about love--as we all do. What a refreshing change from the Tarantino Bloodfests we have unfortunately taken as some kind of entertainment. The Man WIthout A Past is civilized, humane entertainment, an immersion into dark humor with a benevolent edge.

"The Man without a Past" is a movie without a future. This trilogy film which depicts the negative side of life in Finland is not only depressing to watch, but also depressing in its emotional let down. Finnish culture is inherently unemotional in expression and tends to only say what needs to be said, but in a film depicting such difficult aspects as homelessness, poverty, and amnesia it is an endlessly annoying aspect. The extensive use of Finnish culture and societal aspects, rather than adding to a unique film, creates a film that seems lost in confusing cultural and societal norms while adding an increasingly difficult aspect of 1950s Americana. These aspects of culture, society, and Americana serve to undermine and destroy an otherwise good film.The film "The Man without a Past" is an otherwise fascinating tale of a man who having suffered amnesia from a brutal robbery rebuilds a new identity and a new life until he is finally confronted by his past life. Depicting the hardships associated with Finnish males leaving home to find work in the city is seen through an interesting light by negating comparison to the past through amnesia. The main character, Jakko, whose name we do not learn until the end of the film (amnesia rendering him with no knowledge of himself or his past) is forced to rebuild his life through the charity of others and through this process he finds his true self and his true life. This unique aspect of hardship, despair, and incontinence seems a unique depiction from which to draw an ending of finding oneself, however, this is a very Finnish way of viewing life and is the only aspect of Finnish culture and society which adds to the film.Throughout the dialog between characters seems strangely wrapped in Shakespearian soliloquy, as they are short, poignant, and have a somewhat musical rhythm. Yet, in a film setting which is not based in the past or which is attempting to draw a Shakespearian feel this simply renders the characters confusing in their speech and creates a sense that the actors in the film are either of an extremely low quality or simply cannot act. In that a sense of emotionality, something that Finns are not know for portraying, is utterly missing throughout the film. This lack of emotion draws the viewer away from the film itself and renders them utterly confused and frustrated at trying to decipher what could be described as an excessive Vulcan complex, where pure logic and no emotion tends to render all humor, sadness, despair, love, and friendship as a confusing ballet of inept tinkering. This innate cultural aspect could be understood if the director's films were sought after in Finland, this not being the case however it leaves one wondering why it was included.Societal conceptions of basic ideals such as the welfare state, religion, and robbery are also compromised through the films very Finnish portrayal. In the film Jakko attempts to find work through the welfare state but is rejected for not having a name. Yet, rather than attempt to illustrate his problem to the official, he simply accepts the fact that without knowledge of his name he will not receive employment through the state and thus will be ineligible for assistance. After his rejection, Jakko returns to the Salvation Army which offers him work and creates an identity for him. This counter play between societal conceptions of the welfare state and religion seem to depict religion as being more open to assisting individuals regardless of their past, yet no one can move forward without the welfare state. This is seen in the final aspect of a robbery, which Jakko is a bystander to, which sees him attempting to open an account in order to receive funds from his employment with the Salvation Army. He is again denied on the basis of a lack of a name; even upon hinting that any name will do he simply says that he doesn't have a name. This heavy societal dependence on a sense of identity could be seen, if not for its Finnish nature, as depicting what is lost in the movement from one's home to an inter-land in order to find employment. Yet, giving its Finnish nature of conversation and unemotional basis one simply becomes confused and frustrated at Jakko's seemingly unwillingness to simply create a new identity. An unwillingness which would be understood to represent an individual's struggle with giving up themselves if not for the confusion of Finnish societal conceptions of rules and hiding one's true self from general perception by others.The final aspect of the addition of 1950s Americana to the film renders an already confused and belittled meaning to the film simply incomprehensible. Now not only is one confused by interactions of individuals but the setting too becomes a hodgepodge of misused icons of 1950s Americana which destroy any early conception of time and place which would help a viewer to understand the film. Rather one is left to figure out the significance of 1950s Americana to the film if any. The decade being one of the so called good-life in America, but with underlying problems which lead to the turbulent 60s. Yet, the director did not seem intent on drawing a parallel between 1950s America and present day Finland. The moving gave no depiction of unrest and ended on a note of acceptance of hardship and despair being the path to finding one's true self. Thus this indulgence seems to detract from the film more than add any kind of significance or affection for 1950s nostalgia.A film which would otherwise represent a decent film on the trials of the individual in finding himself or herself in the modern chaos which would have appealed to an unlimited audience is both detracted and lost in an overabundance of one culture, one society, and one's nostalgia.