The Other Side of Hope

Dir: Aki Kaurismäki

2017

*****

The Other Side of Hope is Aki Kaurismaki’s first film in six years and perhaps his best in the last twenty years. Let me be clear though, almost every one of Kaurismaki’s films is a masterpiece. While 2017’s The Other Side of Hope is similar in theme to his more classic earlier films, it’s also very reflective of modern life in Europe. There is a unique timelessness to Kaurismaki’s films, even though they deal with contemporary themes, they reflect that many issues – particularly those effecting the working class - remain the same throughout the decades. The Other Side of Hope deals with the aspirations of the working class once more but also tackles the subject of immigration, legal and illegal. It is a cross between 2011’s Le Harve and 1996’s Drifting Clouds, two of the directors best, in that it deals with an illegal immigrant and also a working class man who enters into a new business venture. It may seem a bit simple to merge two of your last ideas but Kaurismaki’s ‘simple’ is a little more complex than most film makers. Kaurismaki is the king of simplicity and subtlety. It’s hard to think of another director with such a strong signature style that has lasted as long and is still as effective. He uses the same compositions, the same lighting and the same bright colours, it is a winning formula that has earned him a legion of fans worldwide and I’m so glad he’s never deviated from it. The style of his films are bold, The Other Side of Hope being no exception, but somehow it only enhances the performances of the actors, even though their lines are generally short and blunt. It’s the perfect blend of film and theatre, without being like either. Typically, The Other Side of Hope is direct, honest and isn’t sugar-coated, all of its sweetness is natural and never artificial. Sherwan Haji is brilliant in his debut performance and fits perfectly in the world of Kaurismaki. Long-time collaborators Sakari Kuosmanen and Kati Outinen return once more in what was, in my opinion, the most heart-warming onscreen reunion of 2017 and both were as brilliant in their roles as always. It’s a reassuringly typical Kaurismaki film, it’s what the fans want and expect but it is also contemporary and deals with current social themes. His films are almost a genre in their own right, an unwritten manifesto as it were. The film came as a huge relief to me as a huge fan of the director’s work. Kaurismaki once said “Maybe my films are not masterpieces, but they are documents of their time. That's enough for me. Masterpieces I can't do - even though I try.” He’s never been particularly confident or complimentary of his own films – which I do like about him - but when he says things like “When I was young, I would sit in the bath and ideas would come to me. But I'm not young anymore, so now I just sit in the bath.” I panic that he will stop directing. I also worry that his recent legal spat with long-time set director Markku Patila will have dire consequences on any subsequent films they work on together. It would be such a shame to not make films together anymore because of a dispute over how the credits were titled. This would be a huge loss to cinema, while he has many fans around the world, the larger audience is still yet to discover his greatness I feel and it would be horrible to lose such a valuable and rich talent when his films are just as great as they’ve always been and also, I think, socially important. So much is said in the silence of his films which makes them incredibly universal, and when the subject matter is always so strong, it is important it is kept and cherished. It’s another masterpiece from one of the world’s greatest filmmakers and long may they continue.