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The Man Without a Past

7.4

7,437

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Original title

Mies vailla menneisyyttä (The Man Without a Past)

Year

2002

Running time

97 min.

Country

Finland

Director

Aki Kaurismäki

Screenwriter

Aki Kaurismäki

Cast

Music

Various

Cinematography

Timo Salminen

Producer

Co-production Finland-Germany-France;

Sputnik, Pandora Film

Genre

Comedy. Drama. Romance | Poverty. Black Comedy. Comedy-Drama

Movie Groups

Finland Trilogy

Synopsis

The second part of Aki Kaurismäki's "Finland" trilogy. 'The Man Without a Past' delivers a new edge to the story that stirred viewers all around the world in 'Drifting Clouds'. Without side-stepping bitter issues, one could paint an image of a small country in the North in a touching, amusing, and liberating way. At the beginning of this new film, a man has travelled to Helsinki in search of work, gets mugged, loses his memory, and has to start completely anew, from scratch. He discovers love, and is forced to discover values with which man will not be ashamed to live. A small story about people who still know how to be gentle, an enormous cinematic experience..

Rankings Position

#36 Best Nordic Countries Films

Awards: 2002: Nominated for Oscar: Best Foreign Language Picture

2002: 3 Awards in el Cannes Film Festival, including Best Actress, Jury Prize

2002: San Sebastián: FIPRESCI Award: Best Movie Of the Year

2002: César Awards: Nominated for Best European Movie

2002: Guldbagge Awards (Sweden): Best Foreign Film

2002: European Film Awards: 7 Nominations including Best Film

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Critics' reviews

"A comedy that found its humor in the paradoxes of existence (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times
"A powerful film made with minimal means, it's a story of poor people on the fringes of society, done without sentimentality or condescension but with wicked humor"

Michael Wilmington: Los Angeles Times
"The message, if there must be one, of this marvelous, stubbornly personal movie is that there is a spark in every soul."

Lisa Schwarzbaum: Entertainment Weekly
"Like the great films of the 1930's and early 40's, it is at once artful and unpretentious, sophisticated and completely accessible"

Dana Stevens: The New York Times
"Few if any contemporary filmmakers succeed in ennobling the luckless proletariat with the rich humanity, warmth, humor, respect and morality that Aki Kaurismaki brings to his characters"

David Rooney: Variety
"Offers up a subversive comic sensibility, one that somehow combines Buster Keaton's deadpan stare with Frank Capra's tireless optimism and filters them both through a black-ice Finnish point of view"

Kenneth Turan: Los Angeles Times
"A dour-faced but sublime comedy about the kindness of strangers -- and about the strangeness of people who find themselves in oddball moments of grace."

Steven Rea: Philadelphia Inquirer
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Ranking Lists Position

35 My Top 10 Movies from 2002 (81)

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The Man Without a Past

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