We left Aki Kaurismäki in 2011 in Le Havre. We find him in Helsinki, his favorite city, filmed in retro mode, and it suits him well. Ansa (Alma Pöysti) is employed in a supermarket in the city under the gaze of a suspicious security guard. She returns home in the evening, a modest studio in a rather decrepit building. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) is a metal worker under the gaze of a sneaky boss.
He sleeps on the spot, in an old wagon converted into a makeshift dormitory. He shares it with his colleague Huotari (Janne Hyytiäinen), with a baritone bass voice. Real gay lurons, those two. "Dress up, let's go out", "I don't want to", "If, Friday, it's karaoke". So it is at karaoke, where Huotari has just performed Under the Wild Mountain Row, a Finnish classic, that Ansa catches Holappa's eye.
See alsoThe Other Side of Hope: Kaurismäki, tender heart and wooden head
For Kaurismäki, the path to love is not a rosewater novel. It is lined with thorns. It's not lacking in spice. Preliminaries: Holappa...
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