Can't believe there is only one other thread on Kaurismäki on all of ILX. Inhaled his Proletariat Trilogy a couple weeks ago, have since seen both Leningrad Cowboys, La Vie de Bohème, and The Other Side of Hope. They're extraordinary. The grammar of Bresson and echoes of Fassbinder (not only in his characters & settings but the super saturated colors), yet so much more optimistic and funny than both - his mix of gallows humor, sight gags, the Sisyphean struggle of the working class, and love as the ultimate redemptive and powerful force in the universe reminds me of The Simpsons, especially the Leningrad Cowboys movies. But even Shadows in Paradise reminds me of the episodes about Homer & Marge's courtship. I know he adores Ozu and I can feel a lot of that warmth and belief in families and romantic love in Kaurismäki's films. He placed in the director's poll, but surprisingly low, and I hadn't heard of him until maybe a year ago. What is priority viewing besides those I've seen? A copy of Le Havre is on its way.
Poll Results
| Option | Votes |
| Shadows in Paradise (1986) | 3 |
| The Match Factory Girl (1990) | 3 |
| The Man Without a Past (2002) | 3 |
| La Vie de Bohème (1992) | 2 |
| Drifting Clouds (1996) | 1 |
| Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989) | 1 |
| Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses (1994) | 1 |
| Lights in the Dusk (2006) | 0 |
| Le Havre (2011) | 0 |
| Juha (1999) | 0 |
| Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana (1994) | 0 |
| Crime and Punishment (1983) | 0 |
| I Hired a Contract Killer (1990) | 0 |
| Likaiset kädet (Les mains sales) (1989) | 0 |
| Ariel (1988) | 0 |
| Hamlet Goes Business (1987) | 0 |
| Calamari Union (1985) | 0 |
| The Other Side of Hope (2017) | 0 |
― flappy bird, Monday, 4 June 2018 05:35 (seven years ago)