Man without a Past

Today I watched the Finnish film Man without a Past directed by Aki Kaurismäki. This film was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes 2002.

The film tells the story of a middle-aged man, called M, who had come to Helsinki looking for a job, but gets beaten up by a set of robbers and looses his memory because of a head injury. He doesn't remember anything about his past - not even his name. He tries to build a new life for himself. Even though he lands up in troubles now and then, he faces everything with a calm mind. After some time, his wife (actually, his ex-wife, as their divorce has already been approved) responds to an advertisement published regarding him in the newspaper, and M comes to know who he is/was. However, he decides to continue his newly discovered form of life.

(Image from collectivechaos dot org)

The film has a touch of humor in every scene and dialogue. We see characters facing tough situations with face expressions suggesting as if nothing significant has happened. We see M renting a house, which remotely looks like one, and his "landlord" talking about money most of the time. We see the landlord's pet dog named Hannibal who is appointed by him to keep an eye on M. We see people living inside broken metal boxes in the outskirts of the city, making it their home. Then we see M going to a restaurant to drink free water, and the hotel manager providing some leftover food for him. Then there is a scene in which M goes to open a bank account, and witnesses a bank "robbery", where one man whose account had been frozen by the police forcefully takes money from his account. We see a funny scene where the a police officer and a lawyer (who represents M) arguing against each other very politely, "going by the law books". Then there is the bank robber again, who hires M to distribute the money to his employees. In the climax, we see an interesting conversation between M and his ex-wife's boyfriend, who is scared whether M is coming back to her life. There is also the character called Irma, a Salvation Army officer, who appears to be very strict but is with a kind heart and helps M a lot, with whom eventually M decides to live with.

There is a certain warmth and kindness in the portrayal of all characters that makes them likeable, however insensitive their face expressions be. Days come and go, and we see people facing life as it is. The film shows it all without making it look too philosophical. Man without a Past is a different kind of film, and an interesting one.