The Man Without A Past

Life Offers Much If You Want to Live (4.5 stars)
"A Man without a Past", a 2002 masterpiece of Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki, may well be his best film to date. It relates the story of a welder (Markku Peltola), who is one night coming home from work and while resting on a bench he is assaulted by a group of muggers and beaten almost to death. Yet he regains consciousness, but only to find he does not remember who he is, what's his name -- anything.

Subsequently, the man is taken care of by a community of very-close-to-homeless people, who, nevertheless, lend a helping hand, together with a local Salvation Army group. The man even starts a relationship with a shy, devout Army member Irma (Kati Outinen).

"A Man without a Past" is a film about humanity, about what makes us human, about that we all are different but everyone of us can be an asset to those around us -- and it needn't necessarily be a money aid. The people in this movie help and get the help back. Kaurismaki's directing is up to par with another European great,...

A Finnish delight!
THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST is a wonderful, lonely, and quiet film about M, a man who has suffered amnesia after being beaten and robbed while sleeping on a public park bench in the Finnish capital of Helsinki. He does not remember his name, or know anything about his past. But instead of going on a crusade to discover his true identity, he simply goes with the flow of life. After being pronounced dead at the hospital he wakes up in a deserted industrial area near the sea and is befriended by its local inhabitants. But M soon finds that his attempts to re-enter society is strongly hindered by the fact that he doesn't remember his name. Instead of being defeated M continues to go about living his life. He eventually rents an abandoned container car and plants a small vegetable garden outside his front door. M develops a new life while leaving the old one behind.

During this film there is a lack of any type of facial expressions or emotions of the characters, even when they are speaking to...

Quiet, Quirky and a Little Sly
This Finnish film may not be for everyone. Though nominated in 2002 for an Oscar for best foreign film, I don't think it got much play here. It's a quiet movie about a guy who is beaten in a park in Helsinki right after getting off a train. The hospital thinks he's dead, but he staggers out, gradually recovers, and can't remember a thing. He meets a number of people, most of whom help him in some way or another. He meets a Salvation Army woman and a relationship developes.

It's hard to describe this movie. The dialoque is often funny, but delivered absolutely deadpan. There is no excitement, but a rich development of story and relationships through incidents that happen to the lead character or that he causes to happen. The two leads, Markku Peltoa and Kati Outinen, are adults and look it. There's no Hollywood handsomeness about either of them. The structure of the movie is a gem of economy. One scene ends and the film moves briskly on to the next scene. No extended, unnecessary...

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