EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Sergeant_Tibbs My first taste of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, I watched Shadows In Paradise shortly after finding out about it because it's so short and seemed to be sweet. Based on reputation and plot lines, Kaurismäki looked to be the Finnish Mike Leigh in his representation of working life, or perhaps anti-Mike Leigh with his minimalist dialogue. The film is good, but too slight to have a big impact. It's a very simple love story, similar to films like Badlands where a couple do wrong to be with each other, but not a lot of exciting events happen. It's well shot and the cinematography is great even if the editing isn't always the best. But it holds back on its characters far too much for me to be invested. Interesting breezy watch though.7/10

Sindre Kaspersen Finnish writer and director Aki Kaurismaki's third feature film is the first in his trilogy about the Finnish working-class which was succeeded by "Ariel" (1988) and "The Match Factory Girl" (1990). It tells the story of middle-aged garbage driver Nikander who is approached one day at work by his colleague who has decided that he refuses to end his days behind the steering wheel. Nikander's friend presents him with an idea about starting an own company and wants him as his partner. Nikander likes the idea, but when his friend dies from a heart attack the following day, Nikander loses his faith. Nikander continues his days with driving garbage and attending an English course until the day he spots cashier lady IIona. Nikander invites her out on a date, but she loses interest in him when he brings her along to play bingo. Nikander proceeds with his ritualistic life, but the day IIona is fired from her job he receives a call which reimburses his faith. IIona wants to go to Helsinki and together they embark on a trip towards brighter prospects.Finnish director Mika Kaurismaki's little brother Aki Kaurismäki, one of Europe's greatest and most original filmmakers, has created a distinctly innovating and minimalistic style of filmmaking with films such as "I Hired A Contract Killer" (1990), "Drifting Clouds" (1996) and "The Man Without A Past" (2002). His low-keyed, stringently structured and bittersweet films are characterized by few characters, minimal dialog, dry and sarcastic humor and a language which without exception is standard Finnish. The genius with Aki Kaurismäki is that through his remarkable stories he manages to clarify the precious value of humor. This Finnish production which was produced by Aki Kaurismäki's older brother Mika Kaurismäki is a subtle and simple story about two love seeking human beings who due to their modest nature is distanced from one another and who creates unnecessary obstacles for one another. They both have hopes and dreams of a greater and better life, but their ideals are repeatedly challenged by faith's unpredictable intervention.The directing, the cinematography, the film editing, the narrative, the dialog, the atmosphere, the pace and the very realistic milieu depictions is in accordance with Aki Kaurismäki's usual style in this acute comedy drama about everyday life, interpersonal relations, identity, love and the Finnish working-class during the late 1980s. The acting performances by the director's frequent collaborators Kati Outinen and Matti Pellonpää (1951-1995) is marvellous and their characters' colorful personalities creates a fine contrast to the films underlying melancholy. This character-driven and dialog-driven joy spreader which gained the award for Best Film at the Jussi Awards in 1987 presents the viewers to an incomparable cinematic universe and it is an unconventional and romantic fable with a great heart and a poetry of faith that is drifting through the gray toned shadows which rests above Aki Kaurismäki's rare paradise.

Polaris_DiB Aki Kaurismaki is like a Finnish Jim Jarmusch--deadpan and flatly paced, though in color and cut a little bit quicker. Shadows in Paradise shares a lot with Jarmusch's Stranger than Paradise, especially the first half, in that the existent romance between the leads is so undertoned it's almost invisible, and can break like gossamer. Nevertheless, also like gossamer, it's stronger than most people imagine and somehow the characters end up coming through to each other in the end. Though really, it's not like they had anything better to do with their lives, living in cold, muted, and poor Finland.In terms of plot points, there's not much. A garbage man dates a grocery store cashier, but their relationship is rocky from the beginning and hardly mutually satisfying. She ends up getting fired, and steals a cashbox from her former employer for revenge. This sort of forces the two together, though it's not like that makes their relationship really start--it's when the man gets beaten up and decides there's nothing else he really wants to do that he insists that they work it out. In the meantime, there's a lot of droll, flat Finnish activity and depression to look at.Even though it ends in the cruise it's far from an elated ending, and even in scenes where characters get mightily depressed and break up, it's far from depressing. Kaurismaki has an almost "Eh, it is what it is" philosophy about everything in this movie, and the dialog feels like it's subtle when in fact it's really amazingly direct, and all of the characters mean what they say.--PolarisDiB

madsagittarian (possible spoiler in third-to-last paragraph, if taken in context)Before the late great film critic Jay Scott left this planet in the early 1990's, the "Globe and Mail" critic also hosted a weekly television program, "Film International", which provided an invaluable resource of foreign films for those in Ontario who wouldn't have access to them otherwise. One of the crowning events of this series was the month-long collection of Aki Kaurismaki films (and one by his brother, Mika). Then as now, Kaurismakilargely remains a well-kept secret among the film festival circuit. His delightfully deadpan works seldom get picked up for distribution in North America, which is a tragedy. He is one of the most original and interesting international filmmakers of the past quarter century.SHADOWS IN PARADISE was the first Kaurismaki film I ever saw, and of the eight or so I have screened since, this remains one of his finest works, and a valuable introduction to his world. It is a shame that this is still not available on video. Like his contemporary and friend, Jim Jarmusch, Kaurismaki makes films about anhedonic expressionless underdogs who mostly sit around and brood. (Is it any accident that this film is similarily titled to Jarmusch's STRANGER THAN PARADISE?) Both men take the simple set-up of Warhol filmmaking to another level. Their films are full of unobtrusive single-take scenes (or at least with minimal editing), moving portraits of lonely disenchanted people, very addictive viewing because you never know what happens next. Like Jarmusch or Chantal Akerman, Kaurismaki is a master of minimalist filmmaking.But what separates his work from others is his expert use of offscreen imagery (a kiss is represented by a hand holding a cigarette), the surprising spontaneity of his miserable characters (because the garbageman finds a record at the dump, he suddenly purchases a brand new stereo system in order to listen to it!), and a tacked-on, deliberately absurd happy ending (which impossibly gets his people out of the worst situations) which is meant to be his sly comment on the Hollywood films he despises.Like any great film auteur such as Altman, Fellini, Preston Surges, or even Almodovar, Kaurismaki's films are peopled with unforgettable, unique faces via his own stock company. Matti Pellonpaa is perfect as the garbage man (his slicked-back hair, big glasses and droopy moustache make him the quintessential oddball underdog), as is the blank-faced Kati Outinen, the recently fired supermarket cashier who finds romance with this man. Her flat, pale visage is like death warmed over-- her only cinematic equivalent is Falconetti in LA PASSION DE JEANNE D'ARC.SHADOWS IN PARADISE is the first of Kaurismaki's "loser" trilogy (followed by ARIEL and THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL). It is a hilariously deadpan, wonderfully dark, yet strangely sweet, and compulsive viewing experience. It is a crime that this movie has not been picked up by a video label. However you can, see this film!