L’Autre côté de l’espoir

OMG ces dialogues. Ces personnages. Tu nous as manqué, Aki. L'humour sec scandinave, le comique de situation intentionnel, les personnages caricaturaux, la capacité à s'exprimer de manière précise avec le cœur même sur des problèmes plus globaux. L'Amérique a Woody Allen, la Scandinavie a Kaurismäki. (02/07/2017)

I had no idea that Finns are such immigrant sympathizers. They even let them in, communicate with them and tend to offer them jobs. Seriously? I thought that a Finn is a more private being and does not do anything mentioned above for other Finns, let alone for immigrants… But fine, let’s forget about immigration policies and concentrate more on Aki Kaurismäki. He showed off with an ironic comedy good as usual, with some aspects of drama, which maintains the comedy nature with its absurdity. It is funny from start to finish and not just thanks to the cynical dialogues, but also the nicely done camera work, entertaining even when it just stands still. I regret that I am not in Finland. I would happily visit a similar distillery for one Kukko olut. Well, one Czech beer waiting for me in half an hour will have to do. (27/01/2018)

Deux histoires entrelacées, si différentes l'une de l'autre qu'on peine à croire qu'elles puissent être reliées. Jugez par vous-même - d'un côté, un drame sérieux sur un réfugié syrien qui tente d'obtenir l'asile en Finlande et recherche sa sœur disparue quelque part près de la frontière hongroise, et de l'autre côté, une comédie grotesquement absurde sur un entrepreneur vieillissant qui quitte sa femme, vend son commerce de chemises et achète un restaurant de quatrième zone avec le personnel correspondant. Akira Kaurismäki a réussi, néanmoins, à fusionner très naturellement les deux récits dans une comédie dramatique amusante et consciente où vous trouverez des observations sur la crise des réfugiés ainsi que des blagues sèches qui vous feront éclater de rire. Quelques détails supplémentaires sont ajoutés (par exemple, les personnages de trois skinheads stéréotypés), mais ce ne sont en réalité que des détails. (02/07/2017)

Apparently, I am not enough of an intellectual to be able to enjoy this film. There was some occasional humor here and there (with emphasis on the word occasional), a few scenes got me interested, but the rest of it felt dull and dragged on like the week before payday. (16/04/2018)

"I believe the commander will want to see the escape routes as well." "Our customers rarely want to escape once they've got in." "Smart dog. I taught her a little Arabic. She converted to Islam. What she thought it's much more interesting than Buddhism. She's calling to surround Budapest and Belgrade tomorrow." - "How much do I net?" "Not much." "A grand. It buys him a history back to the Invasion of Normandy." "He's not that old." "The price is the same if he's born tomorrow." - "Listen. I love Finland. But if you find a way out of here, I'd be really grateful." +++ I love the clever humor and somewhat dark poetry of Kaurismäki's films. The Other Side of Hope is another great entry in Aki's oeuvre. Essentially, it's again about the stories of people living on the margins of society but presented with such lightness and humor that after watching the film, you simply can't be in a bad mood. (85%) (11/08/2020)