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Minkin wrote:Janus picked up the rights to Aki Kaurismaki's The Other Side of Hope (2017)

JabbaTheSlut wrote:Kaurismaki's new/worst film "The Other Side of Hope" coming to Criterion. Horribly self-repetitive piece of intellectual laziness.

JabbaTheSlut wrote:Kaurismaki's new/worst film "The Other Side of Hope" coming to Criterion. Horribly self-repetitive piece of intellectual laziness.

dda1996a wrote:What's the best entry point for Kaurismäki? Closest I've seen was Jarmusch's wonderful Night on Earth

JabbaTheSlut wrote:Kaurismaki's new/worst film "The Other Side of Hope" coming to Criterion. Horribly self-repetitive piece of intellectual laziness.

dda1996a wrote:How is that Leningrad trilogy? I heard AE is putting out a Blu ray box of his films

ianthemovie wrote:My preference is for The Match Factory Girl, personally. And it only runs 68 minutes!

Michael Kerpan wrote:Toivon tuolla puolen / The Other Side of Hope (Aki Kaurismäki Finland, 2017)

Kaurismaki is pretty close to the top of his game with this film, which blends real world horror and deadpan (often very funny) humor. I don't see any sign of the unimaginative treading ground already covered complained of by previous commenters (in part 7 of the Criterion speculation thread). Rather, I agree with MichaelB that this is top-tier work. Yes, AK has looked at refugee problems before -- but this is fiercer in its depiction of both macro and micro cruelty towards those who need help. It looks good -- and has great music. And Kati Outinen gets a nice little cameo appearance. The principal cast is just right for what they have to do.

Spoiler

For those who have seen this, is the very last scene as (covertly) sad as I felt it must be

Lemmy Caution wrote:I was disappointed with Hope. Felt like there was a decent basic framework that was poorly sketched out.

Svet wrote:Aki Kaurismaki has never been an apolitical filmmaker, but in recent years he has been slowly altering the unique balance between the ultra-dry sense of humor and social satire that typically defines his work in a way that seems to be pointing to a new and permanent shift in his creative process. Indeed, until Lights in the Dusk there was always a substantially larger dose of the former, but Le Havre signaled an obvious desire to change the status quo and with The Other Side of Hope now there is clearly more of the latter. It is a change for the worse. By promoting big political causes and ultimately attempting to transform his films into relevant barometers of global socio-political trends, Kaurismaki is bound to lose the abstract flavor that made his films different and attractive. He needs to remain a cranky Finnish auteur who does not give a damn about the global 'voices of reason' because he is at his very best when he is brazenly witty and funny, not when he attempts to defend a political cause.
...
Aki Kaurismaki's latest film, The Other Side of Hope, is as transparent and politically correct as the hundreds of films that Soviet directors made during the Cold War era to defend all sorts of different political causes. This is very unfortunate. I am a big admirer of the Finnish director but I find the recent politicization of his work to be very disappointing. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release is sourced from the same master that last year Curzon/Artificial Eye worked with to produce their local release in the United Kingdom, but has a superior selection of supplemental features.

DarkImbecile wrote:Agreed. What kind of asshole unnecessarily infuses politics I disagree with into his work over and over again?

DarkImbecile wrote:

Svet wrote:Aki Kaurismaki has never been an apolitical filmmaker, but in recent years he has been slowly altering the unique balance between the ultra-dry sense of humor and social satire that typically defines his work in a way that seems to be pointing to a new and permanent shift in his creative process. Indeed, until Lights in the Dusk there was always a substantially larger dose of the former, but Le Havre signaled an obvious desire to change the status quo and with The Other Side of Hope now there is clearly more of the latter. It is a change for the worse. By promoting big political causes and ultimately attempting to transform his films into relevant barometers of global socio-political trends, Kaurismaki is bound to lose the abstract flavor that made his films different and attractive. He needs to remain a cranky Finnish auteur who does not give a damn about the global 'voices of reason' because he is at his very best when he is brazenly witty and funny, not when he attempts to defend a political cause.
...
Aki Kaurismaki's latest film, The Other Side of Hope, is as transparent and politically correct as the hundreds of films that Soviet directors made during the Cold War era to defend all sorts of different political causes. This is very unfortunate. I am a big admirer of the Finnish director but I find the recent politicization of his work to be very disappointing. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release is sourced from the same master that last year Curzon/Artificial Eye worked with to produce their local release in the United Kingdom, but has a superior selection of supplemental features.

Agreed. What kind of asshole unnecessarily infuses politics into his work over and over again?