SHADOWS IN PARADISE: AKI KAURISMAKI'S BORING MASTERPIECE

While many classic love stories take about 2 hours to get their point across, Aki Kaurismaki does it in just over an hour. Calling a minimal style, straight forward story with the basic premise of; "boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back" a MASTERPIECE is a bold statement, but i stand by it. 'Shadows In Paradise' is the first part in Kaurismaki's "Proletariat Trilogy" (a series of Bresson-inspired romantic dark comedies that focus on the Finnish working class). In the film, "Nikander" (played by Kaurismaki regular; Matti Pellonpää) is a lonely garbageman who immediately falls in love with a grocery store employee named "Ilona" (played by another Kaurismaki regular; Kati Outinen) after she bandages a cut on his wrist. Eventually he builds up the courage to ask her out, but 30 minutes in to their date (he takes her to play bingo) she decides a relationship between them wont work and she leaves. Around the same time, Nikander is about to go in to an independent business venture with his friend & fellow garbageman "Tayokaveri". These plans are put to rest when Tayokaveri suddenly drops dead on the job. The death of his friend combined with the rejection from the woman he loves puts Nikander in a dark place, and he finds himself in jail after a drunken rage (this scene stands out quite a bit, because by this point in the film we know that this type of behavior is out of the norm for a quiet guy like him).

Like Nikander, Ilona is just as lonely and has a job that's not exactly "glamorous" either. She's also very shy and has a dry personality. Like so many other female leads in Kaurismaki's films, Kati Outinen looks very "plain" and homely at the start of the film. We only see her around drab/flat-looking colors (like the colors in the grocery story at the beginning of the film where Nikander first sees her). But as the movie goes on, she looks more and more attractive. We start too notice the color of her eyes, her hair and even her freckles. She barely smiles through most of the film. Showing an emotion like happiness is a slow progression for Ilona that we see more and more as the film goes on. When we first see Ilona working at the supermarket, the most we get out of her is a super quick, yet sincere, smirk that she gives Nikander when she sees how genuinely nervous he is around her, and she's obviously touched by it. As most of us know, Kaurismaki's actors have a dry deadpan delivery similar to the actors in Bresson's movies. If someone was looking for the perfect example of "Kaurismaki-style acting", I'd use Kati Outinen's performance in 'Shadows In Paradise'. Like Nikander, Ilona falls on tough times. After she's fired from her job for a bullshit reason, she steals money from her boss, and goes on the run without a place to hide out. Since she has no friends, Nikander (who she just rejected a few days ago) is the only person who can help her. He not only helps Ilona hide out, but he manages to sneak in to her old job and put the money back just in time before Ilona can be blamed for it. Because he helped her out in a tough situation, she feels somewhat obligated to give him another shot, and the 2 main characters have another go at a relationship. Over dinner, Nikander opens himself up to Ilona, and actually charms her. In this scene we see Ilona smile for the 2nd time. Eventually she moves in with him, and things seem to be going great...for the time being...

Nikander & Ilona:

I've never been to Helsinki but I'm willing to bet there's better places to take a girl on a first date besides bingo. Their first date always reminded me of  Travis & Betsy's date in 'Taxi Driver'. Sure Nikander didn't bring Ilona to a porno theater like Travis did with Betsy, but a bingo parlor is just as inappropriate. Realizing that Nikander is a "dud", Ilona lets him down nicely, but its not the last they'll see of each other...

This has always been my favorite scene. We've all been in that situation where someone you're attracted too or have a crush on does something nice for you (in this case bandage up a cut) and our attraction to that person grows. Ilona notices the cut on Nikander's wrists, and without hesitation offers to clean it for him even though she doesn't even know him. After only 5 minutes of knowing each other, the 2 main characters have an intimate moment...

Realizing she judged Nikander too soon, she gives him another chance ...

Ilona Opens Up...slowly:

As you can see in all the other images of Ilona/Kati Outinen in this blog entry, her face is pretty blank and emotionless. This is an accurate representation of how she acts for most of the film (along with just about every other actor as well). Sure Nikander doesn't smile AT ALL in the film, but in most films its a common thing for the female co-star to mindlessly smile and act feminine. However, by the end of the film she gives the audience a genuine smile, which ends up being one of the most memorable moments. In 'Shadows In Paradise', you have this suspicion in the back of your head that not only could Ilona just be a cold bitch, but she could also be using Nikander. And anyone who's a fan of Kaurismaki should know that he loves to show male leads as clueless fools or schmucks that fall for women (like the main character in 'lights in the dusk'). But Kaurismaki carefully places the few scenes where Ilona smiles & smirks to remind us that she's actually a good person. She's just kinda insecure. In the film, there are 4 key smiles (and possibly the only smile) that we get from Ilona which indicate that she's opening up more and more...

1). At the very beginning of the film, she quickly smiles at Nikander as he fumbles and drops money on the floor in her presence (and then immediately turns her face back to stone). Its true that woman love confidence in men, but at the same time they obviously like a guy who's sincere and isn't afraid to show how scared or nervous he is.

2). The next time we see Ilona smile again isn't until 30 minutes or so in to the film after Nikander has already been rejected by her. Because he can now act like himself around her, he lets his guard down and he makes her smile intentionally. Only this time he wins her over...

3). Once the 2 leads are comfortable in their relationship, we see her smile again when Nikander takes her out to get her hair done...

4). And at the very end of the film when they leave together and live happily ever after, we see the most genuine smile from her in the entire film (in my opinion)...

*there is one debatable scene where she kinda half smirks at Nikander before they have sex, but i don't count that. Generally speaking, other than the 4 scenes indicated above, Ilona has a very "cold" face all through out the film.

LONELINESS:

Even though 'Shadows In Paradise' is a (dark) comedy, there are still some pretty sad moments. Kaurismaki really drives home how lonely our 2 main characters are before falling in love with each other. In one scene, we see Ilona go out to a club but its as if she's not even there. Guys come by her table and ask her friends to dance, yet no one asks her (as you can see in the picture below, her friend on the left is getting ready to get up and dance with someone, and her friend on the right is having a conversation with someone off camera while she just sits there). 

And almost any scene that takes place in Nikander's apartment is pretty sad too. Its usually just him in a darkly lit room sitting by himself.

In any relationship there are obstacles. Eventually the honeymoon period between Nikander and Ilona wears off and a few negative elements try to come between them, putting their love to the test. In one scene, Ilona watches Nikander do the dishes, and we get this feeling that she's become bored with him. There's also another man (her new boss) who tries to move in on her. He has more money, is better looking and he's able to get in to restaurants that Nikander couldn't get in to. With Nikander, jealousy and the influence from his new friend turn him in to a mean and possessive person. But we've already gotten to know the real Nikander earlier on in the film, so we don't take this side of him seriously. Insecurity is the major problem with both characters. Its pretty clear that they both have self esteem issues. Even at the beginning when Nikander's friend sees him headed to his first date carrying flowers for Iliona, and he asks what they're for, Nikander says the flowers are for his brother who has just graduated. Why would Nikander lie about going on a date? Is it because she's a checkout girl at a grocery store? Is he worried that people may not find her attractive enough? In another scene, Nikander visits Ilona at work on his break, wearing his garbage uniform. She's embarrassed and quickly meets him at the door, and her body language clearly says she doesn't want him to come in. After he leaves, and her boss asks who he was, she says it was her brother. This creates tension in the house, and Ilona takes a break from Nikander and actually goes on a date with her boss. She immediately discovers that her boss is a sleazy guy and she regrets her decision. For the remainder of the film, we watch Nikander as he tries to win Ilona back.
'Shadows In Paradise' is part of an "eclipse series" box set by criterion, featuring the other 2 films in the Proletariat trilogy ('Ariel' & 'Match Factory Girl'). For a director who comes off like a very stern & serious person (as you'll see in the video below), this film is truly touching.
Fans of Jim Jarmusch, Hal Hartley and the movie 'Dogtooth' will like this a lot.