Finnish Surprise

It seems like a luxury to have access to film catalogue from all over the world. Until well into the 90s we had to make do with what was available on public television or in the local or national chain video store. There were very few arthouse theaters. Laying hands on a foreign film was often by chance-someone had a VHS copy that they got from an older sibling in college, some rich kid's parents had a media room that they could sneak tapes out of, you went to visit someone in a city that had a Kim's Video or Adam's Morgan situation. Failing that one could read niche film magazines and reviews in alt-newspaper just to be able to join the conversation if foreign film ever came up. I think I read about David Lynch films including script excerpts and production notes long before I was traumatized by a laser disk of Wild at Heart. 

There are huge gaps in my film knowledge from which I have creatively and intellectually suffered.  I won't say that the body of films that I enjoyed or learned to enjoy as a pre-teen/teen were all garbage, but they should have been balanced with more serious and artistic work. Also, most of them were garbage.

In the past month I have discovered the work of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki. I remember hearing about Leningrad Cowboys Go America maybe during my first year of college, which would have been 3 years after it came out. I didn't take note of the name of the director as I had not gotten into that yet and I'm pretty sure I thought it was a Japanese film based on the mäki in Kaurismäki. There was a sort of John Water's style film club on campus that showed underground, independent, art house, and otherwise difficult or offensive films. I might still have one of the hand-drawn photocopied club fliers somewhere at my mom's ridiculous retirement McMansion. The guy who ran it, probably was not supposed to be showing these films, as in he did not have permission from the school or the film's distributor but it was the only way a lot of these movies were going to get seen, so it happened. I only went a few times. I remember seeing Meet the Feebles and thinking- yeesh, this thing seems to be going downmarket fast, I had better make a friend who has one of those 12" TV-VCR combos. I had one at home, but for some reason I didn't want to bring it to school. Probably because if you had one, your room became a living room for your housemates and everyone you had ever met in class or in the dining hall who wanted to watch the library's copy of Labyrinth. 

I am in a Kaurismäki groove. So far I have watched Kaurismäki's so-called Loser Trilogy, Crime and Punishment, The Bohemian Life and half of Calamari Union. I am furious at everyone that didn't help me see them sooner. As it turns out I do have at least one more  romantic bone in my body than I thought. I always tell people that I hate romance. I voted against it in the last general election. The only romantic comedy I recognize is Annie Hall, which obviously I can no longer enjoy and which people have told me was neither a romance nor a comedy. The romantic relationships in Kaurismäki's films make sense to me in a way that Hollywood romances, rom-coms, and sitcoms with romantic subplots never have. Broad strokes here- because, again I have not watched a lot of romance films and the one's I have watched I have done so with an assload of disdain- the Hollywood romance seems to hinge on "will they, won't they... yes, they will!". We are watching to see if the couple will finally get together despite the odds. And if it follows the Hollywood pattern, they will get together and live happily ever after in accordance with whatever level of social acceptance and income currently buys them happiness. Or someone dies of cancer, or in The War. Big yawn. I found myself not caring if they would get together in the first place. What difference does it make to me? Surely they have other things going on in their lives that are much more interesting. Maybe some drama a work. 

So far the romantic relationships in the few Kaurismäki films I have seen, kick off as soon as the would-be-lovers meet. I mean in the first frame. Literally- boom, romance, couplehood. People move in together on the first date, hell- even before. Friends and family get the drift, they may not always agree but they acknowledge and they accept it for what it is. Apparently in the Finnish film, if you have a chance at love you should get on that. There is very little hesitation about it. The expectations are basic and reasonable. And then for the rest of the tragic story,  even through breakups or betrayals, the two are yolked until death, physical separation, or imprisonment. 

Unfortunately, these scenes provide confirmation bias for me on how romantic relationships work based on my limited experience-those are 4 other stories. Regardless, I am enjoying his catalogue of films. Most shocking, I enjoyed his adaptation of Scénes de la vie de bohéme
. I love opera, but hate La Boheme. I hate bad musicals and I couldn't even bring myself to watch hate-watch Rent. Moulin Rouge makes me ill. Somehow, this guy pulled it off. I was so caught up in the drama and the acting that I didn't even realize I was enrapt in a story I loathe. At one point I was so enthralled by the character of Rodolfo that I had to stop and rewind a scene to make sure that I was in fact seeing what was there. Somehow Matti Pellonpäâ, a regular player in Kaurismäki films and a very odd looking guy in my opinion, was serving genuine romantic lead energy! I thought only true romance could drape such a veil over the eyes over his beloved and therefore the viewer. Sadly Pellonpäâ died of a heart attack in 1995 when he was only 44 so his body of work is not as large as it could have been. Unless I am misunderstanding the essence of it, that seems even more romantic.

 Photograph of the Finnish actor Matti Pellonpää (1951–1995) at Intiaanirock in Valkeakoski. 
Kai Honkanen - http://www.finna.fi/Cover/Show?id=musketti.M012%3AHK7590%3A202.6 Image record page in Finna: musketti.M012%3AHK7590%3A202.6