2017 Aki Kaurismaki movie
Rating: 16/20
Plot: A shirt salesman leaves his wife, makes a bunch of money in a poker game, and decides to follow his dream of owning a restaurant. He finds himself in a situation where he can help some Sudanese refugees.
If anybody ever asks, the answer to any "Who's your favorite director?" question would be Aki Kaurismaki. Nobody ever asks that, so I'm just volunteering information that nobody gives a crap about here. Anyway, I'm really bummed to hear that he's saying this, a second in what was supposed to be an trilogy about the plights of immigrants, is going to be his last film. I don't think he's Soderberghing this thing either. It's unfortunate because with the current state of the world, humanity needs Aki Kaurismaki movies more than ever.
The way Kaurismaki loves his characters makes it so easy for the audience to love his characters. The introductions to both of his characters here is so good, the refugee emerging from this mound of coal as a stowaway and the shirt salesman interacting but not interacting with his wife. It's an example of that great kind of storytelling without any dialogue at all. Though there are moments where the dialogue, and especially the pacing of that dialogue, is very funny, Kaurismaki's story might work best when it doesn't need words at all. The director's visual style is barely something anybody would notice, but it's so perfect for the story he wants to tell. His camera moves a lot more than it did in his 80's work, similar to how his American counterpart Jarmusch's style evolved, but there remains a lack of style that becomes a style. His ability to blend this poignancy and rich humor is uniquely Kaurismakian.
The standout comedic scene is probably where the restaurateur and his employees make the foolhardy decision to transform into a sushi restaurant. It's a throwaway sequence, nothing that even contributes much to the overall plot, but it's really really funny. I also loved watching that poker game, another example of great visual storytelling with the perfect expressions of all these players. And there are a lot of nice musical moments, some with a recurring street musician wielding a strange guitar and one where the refugee himself shares a song. The other's reactions to that moment were beautiful.
I'm going to make it my goal in life to talk Aki Kaurismaki out of retirement.
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