Thanks for the memories!

Absolutely the worst movie.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

The Finnish film A Man Without a Past directed by Aki Kaurismäki incorporated many universal life lessons in a refreshingly simplistic style. The film although not my favorite, still had great depth and a thoughtful storyline that forced me to reflect on what makes humans truly happy. A Man Without a Past chronicles the events that unfold after a middle-aged man is brutally beaten in a park and unable to remember anything about his past, not even his own name. The film documents this man, known as M, and his journey to creating a new life and the people he meets along the way. Through this journey the theme of American 1950's songs and cinematic techniques shines through and unlike mainstream Hollywood films involving action, sex, and special effects, Kaurismäki is able to touch his audience by portraying women as the hero's and characters who find happiness even as outsiders of a society. From the very first scene of A Man Without a Past" American 1950's style music played in the background creating a setting that the movie was back in time. Throughout the first ten minutes of the film very little dialogue was spoken and the music and lighting took large precedent on the tone the rest of the film was going to take on. To some this music selection could be seen as odd, but director Aki Kaurismäki implements this theme into several of his other films and shorts. It seems he is fascinated by this time period and it is clear that this film was largely inspired by the 1950's in America and rock and roll. For example, we are introduced early on in the film to Irma, a very conservative Salvation Army worker whom lives a very minimalistic life style. Irma settles into her small apartment and falls asleep to a song called "Do the Shake" which made you want to stand up and dance. I was surprised that this was the song choice at first but then felt it added some personality to Irma. Next M finds an old jukebox on the side of the road and hooks it up in his "house", constantly playing old tunes from America while making dinner and doing other various things. He even tells Irma, "I think I want to be a rock and roll manager". Rock and Roll in not the only genre included however, jazz music is also incorporated into the film as well as classical, gospel, and blues. Many scenes, especially involving M and Irma also had songs that felt as if they were from a 1920's film. The dark lighting and jumpy music created an almost black and white feel to those scenes, particularly the ones that incorporated romance. Another way of incorporating this feeling of an older setting was the fade to black cuts that would end a scene. With all of these examples in mind, it seems that these cinematic decisions reflect the director and his love for music and different time periods. Contrary to many Hollywood films, this Finnish film portrayed women as the hero's that helped the men out of their troubles. Beginning with Kaisa nursing M back to health it was understood that she was the decision maker of the home. Even her husband said early on that "she was the boss" which very much differs from the American gender roles. Next M goes to a Salvation Army event in which only men stood in line to be served by all women. It was clear that the men were in distress and the women were there to help them get them back on their feet. Irma also provides M clean clothes and a job to help him figure out his life. Other small, yet significant examples include two older women feeding leftovers to M in a diner, or M's ex-wife coming to the rescue to help him figure out his past. On the flip side the men in this film are seen as either helpless or heartless. For example, the man working at the employment office kicked M out of the building and the police officers tried their hardest to convict M on a crime he didn't commit. The stark differences between men and women is fascinating especially due to the fact the movie was directed by a man. It seems to be a large trend in Nordic film that women are the ones to be respected and that men are the ones who need saving. Although M is able to recover and recreate a new life for himself, without the women he met that would have never been possible. The minimalistic way of living that was portrayed in this film was significant. M and his friends seem to live in old construction containers in which no bathrooms seem to be present and electricity is barely viable. Everyone that M holds a real relationship with involve those who are on the fringe of society. Even M himself said, "no one will want to hire me, I am an outcast". With this said however, the characters that seem to be struggling the most are the ones with the most heart. I believe the message that Kaurismäki was trying to deliver was that money isn't the only thing in life that will get you far. It turns out that M's new life living in poverty is much more fulfilling than his past when he was a bad husband and addicted to gambling. Rebuilding a life is not easy, and for most people it does not involve getting amnesia and forgetting everything about our past. However, A Man Without a Past is able to give insight on how meaningful relationships are a key component to happiness and success when starting over. Through quirky music and old timey techniques along with out of the norm gender roles, this film will leave you pleasantly surprised.

It's a slippery film, The Man Without a Past (original title Mies vailla menneisyyttä). Not quite film noir, not quite a parody of film noir, the movie tells the story of a man who is left penniless and clueless after a group of small-time thugs beat away his memory in the outskirts of Helsinki. This Oscar nominated film and winner of the Cannes Film Festival's Grand Prix is the second movie in writer-director Aki Kaurismaki's Finland trilogy. A comedy, noir, crime film, and satire, The Man draws on a variety of different genres but doesn't fully conform to any of them, thus maintaining a sense of self-consciousness that adds a dash of playfulness to the dry-as-bone dialogue.We know almost nothing about The Man (Markku Peltola) when he first appears to us disembarking a train with a single suitcase in hand, but that doesn't really matter. For one thing, neither does The Man, as the unfortunate mugging that leaves him stricken with amnesia quietly occurs within the first few minutes of the film. For another, The Man Without a Past is all about the indomitable will to keep moving forward. It's the present that matters most and what a triumph over present challenges means for the promise of a brighter future. The film emphasizes this theme even in the very beginning of, showing The Man living moment to moment as he wakes up from his brutal beating only to pass out again in a public bathroom. A custodian eyes The Man's bloody figure sprawled on the floor and says into his walkie, "We have a dead man here." But The Man lives, although only to be pronounced dead yet again in a hospital bed. When the defeated doctor and nurse leave his side, The Man simply opens his eyes as if waking from a brief siesta and takes off...only to pass out for the final time on the bank of a river. It is obvious that, even stripped of his most essential possessions like his health and a sense of identity, The Man will not give in to misfortune. Later on, after The Man's ingenuity and hard work has resulted in a small garden of potatoes, he makes sure to save a few for the winter. He explains to his friend, "We farmers must think of the coming years, too." While only a couple months earlier he was just a nameless nomad, The Man has turned himself into a farmer with prospects for the future.Fortunately, The Man's story doesn't end on the side of a riverbank. A family of four on the outskirts of Helsinki takes him in and nurses him back to health. He becomes well enough to start living on his own in the horrendously unkempt container shed rented to him at a high price by gruff security guard, Anttila (Sakari Kuosmanen). The Man swiftly cleans up the container to create cozy home and inserts himself into the quirky community of downtrodden outsiders that includes a love interest in the form of a lonely Salvation Army soldier, a Christian band that he turns into the hottest rhythm act in the area, a lawyer with a gigantic cigar, an adorable dog named Hannibal, and the most polite bank robber ever.Aside from the oddball characters and wacky situations that The Man finds himself, the comedy of this rather dark and subdued film comes the stylized acting and dialogue that draws on the cool personas seen in film noir and movies of the French New Wave. The Man and his lady love, Irma, (Kati Outinen) move with a stilted awkwardness and stare with blank expressions ever so slightly tinged with sadness. The characters speak in short, clipped banter that exemplifies the pinnacle of deadpan humor. For instance, while cooking dinner for Irma on a date at his place, an exchange between the pair goes as follows: Irma: The peas were fine.The Man: I went to the moon yesterday.Irma: Oh. I see. How was it? In Kaurismaki's world, everything is serious but not to be taken seriously.As the film goes on, the challenges The Man faces become less significant and ever the more ridiculous. Complications from The Man's past that initially seem major enough to separate he and Irma forever turn out to be laughably minor. Although The Man Without a Past is a film in which the emotional volume is turned down, it still delivers a happy, if not heartwarming, ending, thus further deviating from the film noir mold. There's a satisfying showdown with the criminals who beat up The Man in the beginning, but this time our protagonist has the whole town to back him up. This climax signifies The Man's triumph against all odds and the power of the marginalized when they stand together. Turning to The Man after scaring away his assailants, one of The Man's rescuers says, "So you decided to come back. The Man doesn't miss a beat, deadpanning "Obviously." At this point, we should expect nothing less from The Man Without a Past.

As I'm watching Kaurismaki's curious exploration of the human condition for the first time, I'm thinking that I don't like these folks very much--the defiantly aggressive landlord, for instance, with a dog that chews the nose off people who don't pay the rent.But the director, who begins his film with an aggressively violent act (much as happens in the Japanese film The Eel), then sets the viewer down in the new world in which his hapless protagonist ends up--slathered in bandages, passed out at the edge of an icy lake in Helsinki; first impressions give way to understanding in this sweetly humanistic film, as the hero rents a cargo container to live in, adopts the previously mentioned dog (who never once barks), teaches a Salvation Army Band some 50s rock and roll (hilarious!) and learns something about love--as we all do. What a refreshing change from the Tarantino Bloodfests we have unfortunately taken as some kind of entertainment. The Man WIthout A Past is civilized, humane entertainment, an immersion into dark humor with a benevolent edge.

This movie is just plain awful. There's simply nothing to grasp onto, intellectually, emotionally, or thematically. Some people say they like to "fill in" the meaning of who the characters are and what the film is about, but I think that's hard to do when you're given so little. It's a film constructed as a product of the new Cult of Mediocrity, with its virtuousness being aligned with its absence or lack of things rather than the particular presence of anything. Mediocrity has become a kind of religion in which its priests hold a position of moral superiority against anyone who insists that there is such a thing as individual greatness. Yet anyone who practices this religion is a hypocrite, as it is impossible to go through life without assigning value to things and without admiring products of individual human spirit, even if one isn't conscious of doing so. The intentional blankness of this film delights people today who are offended by the "imposition" of the ideas of an author, the craft of a director or an editor, the skills of an actor, or indeed by the offensive crime of making a good film. A bad film flatters people, as do characters who are inferior to them. But this film is universally loved because the bitter pill of politically correct drab festival fare has been lightened up by a rock and roll number here and a flat joke there. So it's a sort of repressed burlesquing of the festival film, almost a joke about festival films designed to amuse cranky jurors and audiences, and in my view nothing more than a clever balancing act. In the hyper-political film festival world, art has been replaced by politically correct self-effacement. At least a third of the comments here are by people who compare this film favorably to Blockbuster Hollywood films. Their comments reveal that they want to show that they "get it," that they know how to eschew entertainment for political correctness, that they are not like the Philistines out there who expect a movie to have a plot and characters and a point. The fact is that there are really good films out there that are not formula films with linear plots, but that do have a spiritual or intellectual or emotional center, are rigorous, and are ABOUT something. And there are also films with great artistic value that DO contain linear plots and characters. If anything this film is SIMILAR to Blockbuster Hollywood films, in its absence of meaningful motifs and its imposition of social and moral conformism.