Sakari Kuosmanen Movies
- 2009
This rollicking sports comedy from Finnish director Markku Polonen follows the exploits of Seppo 'Sladi' Pesonen, an ex-top-tiered race car driver now reduced to instructing students at a driving school. To relieve the monotony of this undesired career, Pesonen builds "Team Susan," a road rally team based at Pekkarinen's Garage in the Finnish countryside. Soon, Sladi's nephew Luumu arrives from Helsinki and learns of the team, his enthusiasm skyrockets and he hops on board with the assist of mechanic Suko. Yet the men encounter Machiavellian sabotage at the hands of the vile Torppo, the owner of the lot that contains Pekkarinen's Garage, who is determined to interfere with the plans of Team Susan. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Olavi Uusivirta, Heiki Silvennoinen, (more)
Aki Kaurismaki's The Man Without a Past opens with the title character (Markku Peltola) being savagely beaten. At the hospital he is declared dead, but he sits up and walks out on his own power. He is taken in by a mother and her two sons, discovers an old jukebox that inspires local musicians, and discovers he has skills as a welder. When he becomes unwittingly involved in a bank robbery, and the man is unable to give the police his name, the cops send out feelers trying to figure out the man's identity. Soon his wife appears. The Man Without a Past was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival where it was awarded the Grand Prix, the most storied prize after the Palme D'Or. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Markku Peltola, Kati Outinen, (more)
- 1999
Aki Kaurismaki's Juha is the fourth adaptation of this love triangle involving a woman and two men. The original story took place in the 18th century and revolved around a former servant girl, Marja, who is married to plain, simple-minded and older Juha, but in love with Russian salesman and 'Casanova' Shemeikka. Kaurismaki's story is set in the late 1970's, shot silent and furnished with captions to disclose the dialogue. It is meant to be watched with live music, preferably with the score's composer Anssi Tikanmaki conducting his own orchestra. Absence of sound (dialogue) is not really new for Kaurismaki, whose 1990 masterpiece Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö/The Match Factory Girl took 17 minutes before a word was uttered. Instead of imitating silent movies, Kaurismaki placed his version of Juha at the moment of the history of silent film when some sound could be used. Acting style and images start somewhere in the late 1920's and towards the end slowly move into the '50's B-movie style. With Timo Salmien behind the lenses, who has been collaborating as cinematographer with Aki and brother Mika Kaurismaki since 1981, and some of the regular cast (such as André Wilms, Elina Salo, Sakari Kuosmanen and Kati Outinen), Juha is distinctively a Kaurismaki film. Published in 1911, well-known Finnish author Juhani Aho's tragic drama has been filmed three times before. The first was Johan in 1920 by Mauritz Stiller, who staged it in provincial Sweden (which was a strange locale for the Finnish audiences). The second, Juha, was brought to screen in 1937 by Nyrki Tapiovaara, who was faithful to the script, but the film was not very successful. The third Juha was by Toivo Sarkka in 1956, and it was also the first Finnish film shot in color. It was the worst of the three, according to film historians, looking like a picture postcard; nevertheless, it was a big box-office hit. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sakari Kuosmanen, Kati Outinen, (more)
- 1996
A married couple struggles with the repercussions of unexpected unemployment in this wry comedy drama from Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki. Ilona, the wife, works as restaurant hostess and her husband Lauri drives a tram. Though the couple has recently lost a child, they both seem at peace and happy. One night Ilona comes home and finds that Lauri has purchased a beautiful television on credit. Shortly thereafter disaster strikes when Ilona's workplace closes and Lauri gets caught in a maelstrom of downsizing. Neither is able to find suitable work right away and as time crawls by, they become humiliated and testy with each other. Eventually Ilona gets a job cooking and bartending in a nameless sleazy dive while her husband, after having to sell their television and car, turns to booze. Things look bad for the marriage when suddenly Ilona decides to open a restaurant. With the backing of her former boss and using her coworkers, she and Lauri open the successful Worker's Rest café and find renewed hope. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1994
This European film, shot entirely in rural Finland, parodies American biker movies from the 1960's. It tells the strange and convoluted story of acid-head, biker Bad Trip who belonged to a motorcycle gang known as the Cannibals. Trip is on the run from his former gang after he is caught stealing gang leader Candy's bike. As he tries to escape from the vicious gang he encounters many strange characters who either help or hinder him. When Trip takes LSD, he is visited by the Silver Rider, who helps him get away by creating a decapitation trap. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dominic Gould, Laura Favali, (more)
Jim Jarmusch's deadpan comedy-of-the-night is a collection of five vignettes taking place in the enclosed space of a cab ride, each occurring simultaneously in five different cities and five different time zones -- Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki. The Los Angeles episode takes place at dusk, as high-powered casting agent Victoria (Gena Rowlands) gets a ride from L.A. International Airport with tomboy driver Corky (Winona Ryder), who would rather go on driving her cab than take up Victoria's offer to make her a superstar. In New York City, novice East German cabbie Helmut Grokenberger (Armin Mueller-Stahl) has difficulty working the foot pedals to his hack, and his passenger, YoYo (Giancarlo Esposito), ends up driving himself to Brooklyn, picking up the shrill-voiced Angela (Rosie Perez) along the way. In Paris, an African cab driver (Isaach De Bankolé) ejects a collection of drunken African diplomats from his cab and picks up a beautiful but surly blind girl (Béatrice Dalle). In Rome, cab driver Gino (Roberto Benigni) engages in a heartfelt monologue confessing his past sexual exploits to his passenger, a priest who is dying of a heart attack in the back seat. The film winds down in the last melancholy vignette, taking place in Helsinki, as taxi driver Mika (Matti Pellonpää) picks up three inebriated workmen who regale him with hard-luck stories. But Mika has a much harsher story of his own to tell. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, Winona Ryder, (more)
- 1987
Alex (Kari Vaananen) is a Finnish cabbie working in Berlin with plenty of problems in this comedy with film noir touches. With two dead men and a suitcase filled with hundred dollar bills, he has difficulty disposing of the bodies. He is chased by the top crime boss (Samuel Fuller) and his crony (Eddie Constantine). Alex's wife is allergic to the money, so the cabbie endures more than he can handle trying to rid himself of the cash and the corpses. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kari Väänänen, Roberta Manfredi, (more)
- 1986
Not to be confused with any of the sequels to Sylvester Stallone's classic Oscar-winning Rocky, this short film from Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki is actually meant as a parody of the late Cold War-era Rocky IV, which saw Stallone's character taking on a juiced-up Russian fighter played by Dolph Lundgren. In this 1986 send-up, Rock'y, played by Silu Seppala, goes head to head with Soviet Igor (Sakari Kuosmanen) and loses. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- 1985
- R
Avant-garde, experimental and misogynist in the bargain, this oddball film is about 17 men named Frank who make their way through Helsinki in a commandeered subway car. Their goal is to reach the symbolically peaceful, perfect coastal town of Eira. Along the way they perform some pop music, one of them is shot, they split up, and finally two manage to reach the sea. Once there, they discover that the water is filled with dead fish, and a decrepit rowboat somehow becomes an object of contention. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Markku Toikka, Kari Väänänen, (more)
