Review #1,431: 'Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana' (1994)

Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki is up to his usual deadpan business with one of his most enigmatically-titled features, Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana, a title which remains a mystery, to me at least, long after the credits have rolled. Shot in black-and-white, the film appears to be Kaurismaki's version of a road movie, often resembling the early films of Wim Wenders, such as Alice in the Cities and The American Friend, although the influence of Jim Jarmusch can also be felt throughout. As is often the case with Kaurismaki, dialogue is delivered with little emotion and passion, story is an afterthought, and the main characters are what many people would refer to as losers. Still, even with all the restraint on show and a running time that that barely touches the hour mark, this is one of the director's funniest features, and certainly one of his most relatable.

We open with Valto (Mato Valtonen), a huge doorstop of a man who resembles Eugene from The Walking Dead with an even more ridiculous haircut. He seems to run a clothing business with his mother, and when parent and son have a tiff over the lack of coffee (he has a serious coffee addiction), Valto locks her away in the cupboard and heads for the auto garage. Here he hooks up with his vodka-swigging friend Reino (Matti Pellonpaa), who has just finished work on Valto's car, and the odd couple head out on a road trip with seemingly no destination in mind. They stop at a bar and are spotted by Russian Klavdia (Kirsi Tykkylainen) and Estonian Tatjana (Kati Outinen), who see these two miserable-looking Finns as their free ride to the harbour for their journey home. And so begins one of the cinema's strangest road-trips, which mainly consists Valto and Reino sulking and ignoring their guests, even when they are forced to sleep in the same room.

Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana may frequently surprise those not accustomed to Kaurismaki's distinct auteur style. Not in a dramatic sense of course, but in the way it refuses to veer off into more comfortable genre territory. You keep expecting Valto and Reino to break their silence and start a romance with their new lady friends, but despite the presence of some romantic undercurrents, these men remain a mystery. This doesn't mean that they're unrelatable however, as anybody with the slightest social anxiety will recognise the awkwardness of their interactions, and get a good laugh from it. There's actually more going on here than I realised before reading up about the film after it had finished. Kaurismaki layers this incredibly slight tale with satire and social commentary, but this will fly over the head of most non-Finns such as myself. However, this doesn't dilute the sheer joy to be had with Tatiana. If the characters in Alexander Payne's Sideways were introverted and shy, it may have come out something like this. This is a low-key pleasure and surprisingly upbeat for Kaurismaki, and proves that happiness can be found in unhappiness.


Directed by: Aki Kaurismäki
Starring: Mato Valtonen, Matti Pellonpää, Kati Outinen, Kirsi Tykkyläinen
Country: Finland/Germany

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #404: 'Iron Sky' (2012)

Every once in a while a film is released with such a ludicrous premise that I simply have to watch it, and Iron Sky is very much one of these films. In basic terms, the film's main idea revolves around the discovery that the Nazi's had settled on the dark side of the moon after their defeat in 1945, and are preparing to invade the earth to once again rule the planet, and bring the superior Aryan race back into total dominance. It is one of those premises that intrigued me, but I had no pretensions that the film would be very good. This became apparent when the reviews began emerging, and they were not completely favourable. I would like to redress the balance of this with my review.

The film is a co-production with Finland, Germany and Australia, and therefore has no American influence (well, in terms of it thankfully lacking that obvious gung-ho attitude you might find in similar special effects films such as Independence Day (1996)), which gives the films comedic elements a directness which is openly mocking of American foreign policy. The president of the United States (an obvious Sarah Palin  avatar) has sent a black man into space in a bid to get re-elected (her campaign poster reads: "Black to Space: Yes She Can"), but he is caught by the moon Nazi's, "albinised" (i.e. turned white), and sent back to earth with an officer to see the president. I'm not going to lay out the entire narrative here, as it is not necessary. I will simply state that the Nazi's eventually invade - much to the delight of the President, as a war president is surely to be re-elected.

This focus on the ridiculous nature of American politics and their views of, well, everything but themselves, brings the film it's often very funny comedy. For example, towards the end, the earth's nations gather in a Dr Strangelove-style war room, and release their space probes (America's is named the USS George W. Bush) and reveal the hidden weapons. This causes problems as each nation (except for Finland) stated that they were not armed stations, but "Sarah Palin" states that the world simply expects this from America, but she sees it as shameful that any other nation should have such capabilities.

The production design at times (particularly in the moon's settlement) look similar to Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), but considering the relatively low budget, the effects are pretty good. Some of the acting is atrocious, but forgivable. But overall the satire most certainly make this a unique entry into the invasion film, and it is wonderful to see a film tackle America's war mongering attitudes in something other than a Michael Moore documentary. And no European genre film would be complete without a role for the ubiquitous Udo Kier as the moons own Fuhrer. I was completely surprised at how much I enjoyed this pseudo-throw-away film. Recommended for anyone who finds American politics as ludicrous as this films premise.


Directed by: Timo Vuorensola
Starring: Julia Dietze, Christopher Kirby, Götz Otto, Peta Sergeant, Udo Kier
Country: Finland/Germany/Australia

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy

Review #90: 'Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moments' (2008)

Based on the true story of working-class housewife and part-time photographer Maria Larsson, Jan Troell's film required financing from five different countries, and was almost five years in the making. When Maria Larsson (Maria Heiskanen) discovers a valuable camera in her home, she takes it to a pawn shop in order to raise some money when her husband Sigfrid (Mikael Persbrandt) loses his job. The shop owner Pedersen (Jesper Christensen) takes a special interest in the camera and shows Maria its sentimental value by demonstrating the way it manages to capture light in order to photograph an image. Having to care for her family while her abusive husband goes on strike at the shipyards, she finds solace in taking pictures as favours for the townspeople, and discovers she has a natural talent for capturing the true art of everyday life.

Filmed in grainy sepia, the cinematography manages to capture the feel of the 1900-era that we modern people see only through old photographs and silent films. It's an ingenious decision as the both looks beautiful, and helps transfer the viewer into a time that we can only experience through the work of people like Maria Larsson. Credit must go to Heiskanen who captures both the suffocating pressure of her characters situation, and her stiff-upper lipped determination and strength to maintain her love for photography that is opposed by her hard-drinking husband. Persbrandt is excellent too, helping develop Sigfrid as a fully-realised character, struggling with both the class situation and the influx of British workers that are taking the jobs while he and his co-workers strike and live in near-poverty. A beautiful film, sensitively handled by the director.

Directed by: Jan Troell

Starring: Maria Heiskanen, Mikael Persbrandt, Jesper Christensen

Country: Sweden/Denmark/Norway/Finland/Germany

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie