Tags
Finland 73m, Colour
Director: Aki Kaurismäki; Cast: Turo Pajala, Susanna Haavisto, Matti Pellonpää
After the coal mine is closed and his father commits suicide, a dejected Finnish miner heads to the city only to find himself living in a homeless shelter and working part-time on the docks. His fortunes appear to change when he meets a single mother and her young son who take him in, but his troubles are only beginning. While darkly comedic elements can be found throughout this dramatic story of despair – the subjugated common man is depicted as a captive in a capitalist society which only uses and never gives back. Ariel is a bleak, unsettling political film which eventually offers only a glimpse of hope somewhere over the rainbow (Klaus Ming January 2012).
Wow, did you like this one more than I did. I found it bleak, a bit depressing, and not worth the time I spent on it.
Having participated in a student program in Finland during the summer of1987, I developed a fondness and some understanding of the culture – which I think gave me some insight into this film. Bleak for sure, and depressing, I loved the limited optimism that the film’s conclusion offered. Quite a different offering from my favourite Kaurismäki film – Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989).