The Man Without a Past
International poster
Directed byAki Kaurismäki
Written byAki Kaurismäki
Produced byAki Kaurismäki
Starring
CinematographyTimo Salminen
Edited byTimo Linnasalo
Music byLeevi Madetoja
Release date
  • 1 March 2002 (2002-03-01)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryFinland
LanguageFinnish
Budget€1,206,000[1]
Box office$9,564,237

The Man Without a Past (Finnish: Mies vailla menneisyyttä) is a 2002 Finnish comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Aki Kaurismäki. Starring Markku Peltola, Kati Outinen and Juhani Niemelä, it is the second installment in Kaurismäki's Finland trilogy, the other two films being Drifting Clouds (1996) and Lights in the Dusk (2006). The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2002 (the only Finnish film so far) and won the Grand Prix at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

Plot

The film begins with an unnamed man arriving by train to Helsinki. After falling asleep in Kaisaniemi Park, he is mugged and beaten by hoodlums and is left with severe head injuries, losing consciousness. He awakes and wanders back to the train station and collapses in its toilet. He awakes the second time in a hospital and finds that he has lost his memory. He starts his life from scratch, living in a shipping container, finding clothes with help from the Salvation Army and making friends with his poor neighbours.

Cast

Production

The Man Without a Past was co-produced by the Finnish companies Sputnik and YLE, the German companies Bavaria Film Studios and Pandora Filmproduktion and the French company Pyramide Productions.

Critical reception

The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 98%, based on 99 critics, with an average rating of 7.98/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Kaurismäki delivers another droll comedy full of his trademark humor."[3] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 84 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[4] Roger Ebert awarded the film three-and-a-half stars out of 4, saying he "felt a deep but indefinable contentment".[5] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said the film "contains not one false note. It is the work of an artist fully in control of his art."[6] Barbara Scharres of the Chicago Reader said that Kaurismäki "perfects his trademark formula of deadpan humor and arctic circle pathos in this brilliantly ironic 2002 comedy."[7]

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations
Award Year Category Recipient Result Ref.
ACCEC Awards 2002 Best Foreign Film Aki Kaurismäki Won
Academy Awards 2002 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated [8]
Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards 2002 Best Foreign Film Nominated
Bangkok International Film Festival 2003 Best Actress Kati Outinen Won [9][10]<
Best Screenplay Aki Kaurismäki Won
Best Film Aki Kaurismäki Nominated
Bodil Awards 2002 Best Non-American Film Aki Kaurismäki Nominated
Camerimage 2002 Golden Frog Timo Salminen Nominated
Cannes Film Festival 2002 Best Actress Kati Outinen Won [11]
Grand Prize of the Jury Aki Kaurismäki Won
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Aki Kaurismäki Won
Golden Palm Aki Kaurismäki Nominated
Palm Dog Tähti Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2002 Best Foreign Language Film Nominated
César Awards 2002 Best European Union Film Nominated
European Film Awards 2002 Audience Award - Best Director Aki Kaurismäki Nominated
Best Actor Markku Peltola Nominated
Best Actress Kati Outinen Nominated
Best Cinematographer Timo Salminen Nominated
Best Director Aki Kaurismäki Nominated
Best Film Aki Kaurismäki Nominated
Best Screenwriter Aki Kaurismäki Nominated
Fajr Film Festival 2002 International Competition - Best Screenplay Aki Kaurismäki Won
Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards 2002 Best Foreign-Language Film Nominated
Flanders International Film Festival 2002 Grand Prix Aki Kaurismäki Won
Guldbagge Awards 2002 Best Foreign Film Won
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 2002 Best Director - Foreign Film Aki Kaurismäki Nominated
Jussi Awards 2002 Best Film Won
Best Actress Kati Outinen Won
Best Cinematography Timo Salminen Won
Best Direction Aki Kaurismäki Won
Best Editing Timo Linnasalo Won
Best Script Aki Kaurismäki Won
Best Actor Markku Peltola Nominated
Lübeck Nordic Film Days 2002 Audience Prize Aki Kaurismäki Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards 2002 Best Foreign Language Film Won
Nordic Council 2002 Nordic Council's Film Prize Aki Kaurismäki Won
Palm Springs International Film Festival 2002 FIPRESCI Prize Aki Kaurismäki Won
Robert Festival 2002 Best Non-American Film Aki Kaurismäki Nominated
San Sebastián International Film Festival 2002 FIPRESCI Film of the Year Aki Kaurismäki Won

References

  1. ↑ "Production support for Finnish films 1998-2004" (PDF) (in Finnish). Finnish Film Foundation. 6 March 2004. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  2. ↑ Fauth, Jurgen. The Man Without a Past Archived 6 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, About.com. Accessed 5 February 2008.
  3. ↑ The Man Without a Past at Rotten Tomatoes. Archived 18 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 27 March 2017.
  4. ↑ The Man Without a Past at Metacritic. Archived 12 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 27 March 2017.
  5. ↑ Ebert, Roger. The Man Without a Past Archived 7 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, RogerEbert.com, 27 June 2003. Accessed 30 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Honeycutt, Kirk. The Man Without A Past (Finland), The Hollywood Reporter, 1 January 2005. Accessed 5 February 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2006.
  7. ↑ Scharres, Barbara (10 January 2003). "The Man Without a Past". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "The 75th Academy Awards (2003) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. AMPAS. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  9. ↑ Watson, Nigel. Bangkok International Film Festival 2003, Talking Pix; retrieved 2007-12-22
  10. ↑ Hessey, Ruth. 23 January 2003. Bangkok finds its Golden Kinaree, The Age; Retrieved 2007-12-22
  11. ↑ "Mies Vailla Menneisyytta (The Man Without A Past)". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
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