Dreary yet comforting and a brilliant example of how to tell a story with poetic economy, this is a near-perfect work by Kaurismaki about a miner who loses his job but inadvertently encounters a parking attendant whom he falls in love with in the drollest possible way.
Review #2,805
Dir. Aki Kaurismaki
1988 | Finland | Drama, Comedy, Romance | 72 min | 1.85:1 | Finnish
Not rated – likely to be PG13 for some thematic elements
Cast: Turo Pajala, Susanna Haavisto, Matti Pellonpaa
Plot: Taisto is a newly unemployed Lapland miner who sets off in a convertible Cadillac for a fresh start in Helsinki. Joined in his odyssey by parking attendant Irmeli and her young son, Taitso’s plans take a series of unexpected turns.
Awards: Official Selection (Berlinale)
International Sales: The Match Factory
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Unexpected Encounters; Economic Despair; Personal Stagnation
Narrative Style: Straightforward
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Slightly Arthouse
Viewed: Criterion Eclipse DVD
Spoilers: No
Aki Kaurismaki has said before that Ariel is his favourite of all his films. He might be on to something there.
While his later works like The Man Without a Past (2002) and The Other Side of Hope (2017) received more prestigious awards, there is something about Ariel that makes me want to ‘rewind the tape’ and watch it again.
At only 70-odd minutes, it is one of the Finnish director’s shortest works, but it never feels slight. In fact, it is a brilliant example of how to tell a story with poetic economy.
Taisto loses his job as a miner but while trying to make ends meet in Helsinki, he encounters a parking attendant who inadvertently jumps into his Cadillac convertible, setting the course for one of the drollest romances in the Kaurismaki canon.
“I know but I have no money”
Rough obstacles do beset Taisto in his quest to free himself and seek a new life of hope, and rest assured, Ariel is a rather depressing film… that is somehow imbued with a poignant ray of sunshine.
It is like eating an ice cream cone as rain drizzles on you. And it is this dreary yet comforting feeling that Kaurismaki manages to successfully ingrain in us even after the film ends.
The soundtrack features some kind of tango and old-school pop, but it is the film’s use of a Finnish version of the iconic song, ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, that is the icing on the cake, giving the picture not just a strong emotional tenor but also acts as a counterpoint to the prospect of a difficult journey ahead that would be undertaken by the characters.
Kaurismaki is no stranger to depicting the marginalised as they eke out an existence marked by economic despair and personal stagnancy. In Ariel, and at what was an early point in his career, I believe he has created a near-perfect work.
Grade: A
Trailer:
Music:
Eternality Tan 