Finnish slackers steal art, flee gangsters, and probably still can't adult.
Manne, Harri, and Ville Alfa are rootless twenty-somethings in search of purpose for their banal lives. After Manne steals a priceless painting from a group of petty criminals, Manne and Harri flee from the gangsters across Finland, while Ville goes to Paris. On the road they meet Veera, an old girlfriend of Harri's, and try to avoid the gangsters in pursuit.
Acting
Pellonpää's tired eyes carry entire scenes of doing nothing.
Direction
Kaurismäki finds poetry in aimlessness—no one else could.
Cinematography
Bleak Finnish landscapes that match the characters' interiors.
Director
Mika Kaurismäki
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Launched the 'Kaurismäki brothers' era and helped define Finnish cinema's deadpan global identity.
The stolen painting is never shown clearly—Kaurismäki cared more about the void it left behind.
FI
