Kati Outinen and Matti Pellonpää in a scene from Shadows in Paradise.
Kati Outinen and Matti Pellonpää in a scene from Shadows in Paradise.
Whanganui Film Society's next screening is Shadows in Paradise (Varjoja paratiisissa) from celebrated Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki. From 1986, Shadows in Paradise was the first in Kaurismäki's so-called Proletariat Trilogy, described as "social-realist farce", pitched somewhere between comedy and tragedy.
Shadows in Paradise (Varjoja paratiisissa) Monday, May 20, 7pm Davis Theatre, WhanganuiRegional Museum Aki Kaurismäki • Finland • 1986 76 mins • M violence • In Finnish with English subtitles
SYNOPSIS Lonely garbageman Nikkander (Matti Pellonpää) finds himself directionless after losing his friend and co-worker to a sudden heart attack. Unlikely redemption comes in the form of plain supermarket cashier Ilona (Kati Outinen, in her first of many performances for Kaurismäki), with whom he begins a tentative love affair. It's essentially a romantic comedy in a series of spare and beautiful gestures. Kaurismäki conjures an unexpected delight that finds hope blossoming even amid gray surroundings. "The film teams two of the director's favourite actors for the first time — Matti Pellonpää and Kati Outinen — both of them portraying the isolated, withdrawn characters that would crop up in Kaurismäki's later films. They're beset with mundane problems — his best friend dies, she gets fired — but despite it all they're able to share a kind of shadowy paradise. It's one of the director's most atmospheric films." — David Stratton, Sydney Film Festival 2018
Shadows in Paradise is a members-only screening. Memberships are available at the venue or online and start at $27 for a 3-Film Sampler to $90 for the full season. Anyone is welcome with flexible payment options. Info at: www.whanganuifilmsociety.org.nz
