Aki Kaurismäki - The Man Without A Past (Mies vailla menneisyyttä) - Opening Scenes kaurismaki

The Man Without A Past (Mies vailla menneisyyttä) is arguably Aki Kaurismäki's crowning achievement. It had worldwide notification in 2003 due to it's success at film festivals across the world, most notable of which was the Cannes Film Festival where it won the coveted Grand Jury Prize and Kati Outinen won the Best Acrtress prize and deservedly so, but amongst Aki's die-hard fans, it rarely comes at the top of their lists as his best. Kaurismäki films are at best described as brilliant slices of melancholy and surrealistic scenes which are also extremely, almost worryingly, applicable to real life and are in a lot of cases more realistic than a lot of so-called realistic films that are produced. Kaurismäki's eye is without a doubt on film pre-1970, in fact the auteur has himself conceded that nothing good has come from cinema since around 1971 to be precise, and it shines no brighter than on The Man Without A Past. Unlike his previous films, there is now a sense of hope and there is more colour and more vibrancy, which I think is what confused a lot of Kaurismäki fans out there, and this is also the thing that also, finally, got him noticed by more than the underground fans and his fellow Finns. The wit and dialog of The Man Without A Past is also better than any Kaurismäki film that has come before; the constant banter is infectious, original and genuinely funny. The music is also very well placed with the different scenes of this film, as you hear in the orchestral piece in this very clip. Kaurismäki has an amazing sense to combines classic, jazz, blues and rock and roll together in his films and make each song as applicable to the feeling of the film as the last.

This video is the introduction to this film to give you a taste of what is to come. It is grandiose, soaring, darkly humourous and wonderfully smile enducing. It is the introduction to, in my eyes, the best film ever made. Includes English subtitles. Enjoy.

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