When Le Havre was released in 2011, everyone wondered if Aki Kaurismäki was preparing us another trilogy?
The great Finnish director since the late eighties of the last century, in his films, constantly dealt with the position of small, ordinary people in society, and the unjust relations of society towards an individual. Therefore, this year's premiere of the movie The Other Side of Hope at the Berlin Film Festival was greeted with great joy, and after the premier screening of the film, the suspicions was gone and we are preparing for another brilliant trilogy about the little man in an unfair society.
Kaurismaki's films Le Havre and The Other Side of Hope move the limits of his creativity. While his earlier work focuses on a central story, with the films of the potential Migrant Trilogy Kaurismäki presents us two central stories - one from the position of a migrant, and the other from the position of the socially endangered layer of Finland, joining them into a solid whole which shows the difficult political / social situation in which the country is located.
The Other Side of Hope follows in its first narrative line Khalid, a refugee who left Syria with his sister Miriam. After the tragic shelling of the Aleppo, the two of them, as the only surviving family members, move towards Europe. On a difficult refuge road, somewhere on the Balkan route, Khalid and Miriam are separated in an immigrant camp. In search of his sister, along Europe, Khalid ends the case in Finland where he decides to apply for asylum.
The second narrative line of the film follows Wikström, Finish man who decides to turn a new page in his life. Wikström leaves his wife and sells a storehouse with his worn-out business, and earns money from gambling money to buy a small restaurant that is on the verge of collapse.
The Other Side of Hope, like all previous Kauismaki's works, could be placed somewhere on the boundary of drama and comedy. After 12 films on the edge of these two genres, many might think that the Finnish director will be running out of ideas, that he will start to repeat himself. Nevertheless, Kaurismäki manages to bring in new freshness, with every film, and this opportunity leaves the comic to the narrative line of Wikström while putting all the serious moments, elements of hard drama to Khalid.
Khalids character is thoroughly researched, starting from his arrival in Helsinki, through cold bureaucratic moments in which he tries to get asylum to the reaction of society and the relationship of nationalist Puritan groups. The real feelings of migrant are rooted deep into dialogues, both Khalid and of smaller characters. Perhaps the most striking dialogues are those between the Arabian migrant Mazdak and Khalid at times when the Arabian teaches the Syrian how to behave and simply step into the cold Western world.
Converting serious social issues of Finns into innocent comedy is done with style, always ranging from a dialogue that is a bit dark, then shifting the focus to the visual aspect of the comedy, in order to finally resolve the matter either by a quick cut to the final outcome of the situation or practically accompanied by a suitable music background . For this very reason, and the simplest children's jokes like "do not say you got a salary / hey people got a salary" manage to get smiles.
Music background is another aspect that constantly attracts viewers to Kaurismaki's work, even from early comedies like Leningrad Cowboys Go America. However, while his early films put a focus on music, the "Proletarian" and "Finnish trilogy" use music as a burden of heavy drama, while in the previous Migration films the music is muted with the action itself. The Other Side of Hope is full of rock and roll and country music tracks that gradually shift from background music to a film story.
While the film depicts a world seldom far removed from grim reality, the sly strain of humor keeps it buoyant, nowhere more so than in Kaurismaki’s deadpan dialogue, delivered with affectless aplomb by his marvelous cast. Following a health and safety inspection of the restaurant, Wikstrom says: "Tolerable. Just the dining hall and kitchen scored badly." And when a shady operator producing a fake ID asks Khaled, "Male or female?" he replies, "I don't understand humor."
This was my translation from Croatian to English from Ziher hr article ''Nova stranica života'' by A.Fatic
Cast: Sherwan Haji, Sakari Kuosmanen, Ilkka Koivula, Janne Hyytiainen, Nuppu Koivu, Kaija Pakarinen, Niroz Haji, Simon Hussein Al-Bazoon
Production companies: Sputnik, Bufo, Pandora Film
Director-screenwriter: Aki Kaurismaki
Producers: Aki Kaurismaki, Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff, Reinhard Brundig
Director of photography: Timo Salminen
Production designer: Aki Kaurismaki
Costume designer: Tiina Kaukanen
Editor: Samu Heikkila
Casting: Eevi Kareinen
Venue: Berlin Film Festival (Competition)
Sales: Match Factory
98 minutes
