The Man Without a Past

Kaurismaki's movies can tickle you with the briefest of statements, the smallest of gestures.

At the end of The Man Without a Past, I felt a deep but indefinable contentment.

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.

After watching it, I wasn't too sure myself if my choices would be any different than those M makes. He has no clue as to the life he's led, only feelings that tell him he wasn't the type of man he necessarily wanted to be.

Deliciously slow-paced film.

It’s not often a movie can so persuasively reassure us of people’s inherent goodness, but it’s even rarer still for it to be done with as much deceptive, charming simplicity as here.

M is a multilayered character. He is both an outcast and an artist, but he could be much more. He is no one and everyone, and Helsinki for him is nothing and everything.

With its rusty railroads and dingy metal canisters where the downtrodden dwell, [this film] finds color, surprise, and joy in the simplicity of struggling Helsinki outcasts.

...dourly delightful.