The Other Side of Hope

OMG, the dialogue! And the characters! We missed you, Aki. Dry Scandinavian humor, intentional comical affectation, cartoonish characters and the ability to speak aptly and with heart about a global problem. America has Woody Allen, Scandinavia has Aki Kaurismäki. [Karlovy Vary IFF] (07/02/2017)

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. (01/27/2018)

Two intertwined stories, so different from each other that it doesn't even seem possible to connect them. Judge for yourself - on the one hand a serious drama about a Syrian refugee trying to get asylum in Finland and looking for his sister, who got lost somewhere near the Hungarian border, and on the other hand a grotesquely absurd comedy about an aging businessman leaving his wife, selling his shirt shop and buying a worthless, dirty restaurant with matching staff. Aki Kaurismäki was nevertheless able to combine the two events very naturally in the last third of the film into a funny and conscious comedic-dramatic mix, with opinions about the refugee crisis, as well as dry jokes that will knock your socks off. There are a few needless things (for example, the characters of three stereotypical skinheads), but these are really just details. (07/02/2017)

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. (04/16/2018)

"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%) (08/11/2020)