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Ariel
Ariel
8.4
/10
5,785 Ratings

ARIEL

Directed by Aki Kaurismäki
Finland, 1988
Comedy, Drama, Romance

Synopsis

Taisto is a newly unemployed Lapland miner who sets off in a convertible Cadillac for a fresh start in Helsinki. Joined in his odyssey by parking attendant Irmeli and her young son, Taitso’s plans take a series of unexpected turns when he gets framed for a crime he didn’t commit.

Synopsis

Taisto is a newly unemployed Lapland miner who sets off in a convertible Cadillac for a fresh start in Helsinki. Joined in his odyssey by parking attendant Irmeli and her young son, Taitso’s plans take a series of unexpected turns when he gets framed for a crime he didn’t commit.

Our take

A romantic road movie that has little time for traditional notions of love and happiness, this second part of the Proletariat Trilogy finds Kaurismäki taking his first leap into genre territory. Fit to burst with existential yearning, Ariel is a ruthlessly unsentimental tale of escape and survival.