Perhaps, because I have lived in Estonia all my life, I am interested in the cinema of nearby countries, so I usually watch Aki Kaurismäki’s films and like them – some more, some less. His latest film, Kuolleet lehdet, 2023, just watched. As usual, the characters of his film are ordinary people, two lonely and not very well arranged in the life of ordinary people, a guy named Holappa (his name we never know, neither his friend nor even the one who will become his girlfriend – the level of intimacy of people!) and a girl Ansa. Both work simple jobs that do not require special qualifications, but from there they are fired, him because of drunkenness in the workplace, her – for what she took out of the supermarket where she works, the delay, which was supposed to be thrown in the trash. Once they meet in a karaoke bar, where he came with a friend, she with a friend. People do not even know how to get acquainted, because of what their further contacts will be somewhat complicated, but in the end everything will be arranged in the best way for them all, the girl will even get a cute dog, let’s hope that these losers will finally find some simple happiness in this life. The film is not bad, although not a masterpiece, although it received a jury prize at last year's Cannes festival, shot in the inherent style of Aki Kaurismäki, a lot of music - from small patches of classics to songs, mostly nostalgic and local character, the actors portray their heroes well, not without some banter - two viewers leave the cinema, one says to the other (after watching a movie about zombies) - the film reminded me of the "Diary of a rural priest" Bresson, the other answers him - and Godard's film. So who likes the director will like his work, I’m not sure about the rest.
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