Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A Finnish man goes to the city to find a job after the mine where he worked is closed and his father commits suicide.
Aki Kaurismäki's deadpan tragicomedy is a singular work — its laconic style, flat affect, and wry working-class fatalism make it immediately recognizable as nobody else's film. The black-and-white-spirited palette, precise framing, and melancholic Helsinki atmosphere give the cinematography a genuinely distinctive quality. The plot threads together episodic misfortune with dry wit, and the performances embody Kaurismäki's uniquely minimalist register with conviction. The ending, however, feels somewhat abrupt and contrived — the escape resolution strains credibility in a way that undercuts the film's otherwise grounded tone.