ARIEL Movie Review

When his mining job falls prey to Finnish downsizing, Taisto (Turo Pajala) hops into the new Cadillac his father has given him and sets off for the wide open spaces of Finland to find a brand-new future, and, perhaps, romance. This dark 1988 comedy from Finland's Aki Kaurismäki is an early and superb example of the way Kaurismäki spins his shaggy-dog tales with a uniquely dry, minimalist wit. Kaurismäki's movies have been compared to those of Jim Jarmusch (Stranger than Paradise), yet there is something uniquely Scandinavian in this movie's humor, despite the pervasive influence of American pop culture throughout. (That influence would continue the next year not with Kaurismäki going Hollywood exactly, but in his startlingly effective, feature-length sketch on popular culture-clash, Leningrad Cowboys Go America.) The joy of Ariel is in truly not knowing where this road trip is headed, yet being so confident in the director's vision that we go along for the ride happily, and with no questions asked.

NEXT STOP … Drifting Clouds, La Vie de Bohème, Stroszek

1989 74m/C FI Susanna Haavisto, Turo Pajala, Matti Pellonpaa; D: Aki Kaurismaki; W: Aki Kaurismaki; C: Timo Salminen; M: Dimitri Shostakovich. National Society of Film Critics Awards ‘90: Best Foreign Film. VHS KIV, FCT