Few filmmakers boast a style as inimitable as Aki Kaurismäki. His is a distinctly humanist cinema, one suffused with empathy for the common man. Bohemian, ruthlessly unsentimental, and tinged with a dark sense of humor, the world of Kaurismäki is one in which ordinary people rub up against a system designed to demoralize them—a world in which the surreal offers a path out of the hardships of the everyday.
As the most recent winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his achingly beautiful Fallen Leaves (2023), there’s no disputing that the great iconoclast is the leading voice in Finnish cinema. With its vibrant color schemes, meticulous camera moves, and rigorous mise-en-scène, Kaurismäki’s work is instantly recognizable. Sometimes gut-bustingly funny, sometimes suffused with straight-faced drollery, his films are ever-ready to counter a character’s existential dread with a fanciful leap into the absurd. Moving to the insistent beat of rock ‘n’ roll, and illuminated by the timeless lighting and color palettes of classical Hollywood, the films in this career-spanning collection are, above all, masterclasses in how to be a human being.

Few filmmakers boast a style as inimitable as Aki Kaurismäki. His is a distinctly humanist cinema, one suffused with empathy for the common man. Bohemian, ruthlessly unsentimental, and tinged with a dark sense of humor, the world of Kaurismäki is one in which ordinary people rub up against a system designed to demoralize them&#8212;a world in which the surreal offers a path out of the hardships of the everyday.
As the most recent winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his achingly beautiful Fallen Leaves (2023), there&#8217;s no disputing that the great iconoclast is the leading voice in Finnish cinema. With its vibrant color schemes, meticulous camera moves, and rigorous mise-en-scène, Kaurismäki&#8217;s work is instantly recognizable. Sometimes gut-bustingly funny, sometimes suffused with straight-faced drollery, his films are ever-ready to counter a character&#8217;s existential dread with a fanciful leap into the absurd. Moving to the insistent beat of rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll, and illuminated by the timeless lighting and color palettes of classical Hollywood, the films in this career-spanning collection are, above all, masterclasses in how to be a human being.

How to Be a Human: Films by Aki Kaurismäki

HOW TO BE A HUMAN: FILMS BY AKI KAURISMÄKI

Few filmmakers boast a style as inimitable as the great Finnish auteur, Aki Kaurismäki. Moving to the insistent beat of rock ‘n’ roll, and illuminated by the timeless lighting and color palettes of classical Hollywood, Kaurismäki’s films are, above all, masterclasses in how to be a human being.

Few filmmakers boast a style as inimitable as the great Finnish auteur, Aki Kaurismäki. Moving to the insistent beat of rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll, and illuminated by the timeless lighting and color palettes of classical Hollywood, Kaurismäki&#8217;s films are, above all, masterclasses in how to be a human being.

Films by Aki Kaurismäki

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FILMS BY AKI KAURISMÄKI

How to Be a Human:

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HOW TO BE A HUMAN:

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