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"M" actually does die, but then he gets back up -- the beginning of his new life, but one without any memory of what was before. He doesn't know who he is or where he is from, all he has is his present and future.
THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST
Mies vailla menneisyyttä
(2003)
This page was created on May 7, 2003
This page was last updated on
May 29, 2005
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CREDITS |
Directed and written by Aki Kaurismäki
Markku Peltola .... M
Kati Outinen .... Irma
Juhani Niemelä .... Nieminen
Kaija Pakarinen .... Kaisa Nieminen
Sakari Kuosmanen .... Anttila
Annikki Tähti .... Flea Market Manageress
Anneli Sauli .... Bar Owner
Elina Salo .... Shipyard Clerk
Outi Mäenpää .... Bank Clerk
Esko Nikkari .... Bank Robber
Pertti Sveholm .... Investigating Officer
Matti Wuori .... Lawyer
Aino Seppo .... Ex-wife
Janne Hyytiäinen .... Ovaskainen
Antti Reini .... Electrician
Marko Haavisto .... Salvation Army Band
Jouni Saarnio .... Salvation Army Band
Jukka Teerisaari .... Salvation Army Band
Jyrki Telilä .... Salvation Army Band
Risto Korhonen .... Mugger
Panu Vauhkonen .... Mugger
Tom Wahlroos .... Mugger
Produced by Aki Kaurismäki
Cinematography by Timo Salminen
Film Editing by Timo Linnasalo
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some violence.
Runtime: 97 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM, and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG |
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POSTER |
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SYNOPSIS |
The Man Without a Past delivers a new edge to the story that stirred viewers all around the world in Drifting Clouds. Without sidestepping bitter issues, one could paint an image of a small country in the North in a touching, amusing, and liberating way.
At the beginning of this new film, a man (Markku Peltola) has travelled to Helsinki in search of work, gets mugged, loses his memory, and has to start completely anew, from scratch. He discovers love (Kati Outinen), and is forced to discover values with which man will not be ashamed to live. A small story about people who still know how to be gentle, an enormous cinematic experience.
 The themes contain a translucent beauty, cross-lit in a confusingly rich manner by the direction. In the case of expression, the author takes the biggest risks, and wins. We know, ultimately from Juha (1999), »the last silent movie of the 20th century», that Aki Kaurismäki is a rare breed of a portrayer of »the border area», between the urban and the countryside, the privileged sector of the class society and the margins of Finland, sentenced to anonymity. Kaurismäki’s portrayal of subservience contains dignity (neither pompous nor heavy-hearted), humour, a touch of melancholy (not far removed from the style of Chaplin), and an excellent understanding of the lot of his subjects, a lot that most probably is irrevocably at the »bottom», but one that also possesses its own rebellious delights as well as room for one’s own self. The choice is a proud one, too, as power and domination seem to corrupt always and absolutely. The ethics and style of Aki Kaurismäki are strongly related to several of the giants of cinema who have shown as well an absolute and most boundless respect for man by the creation of such a precise way of expression and such a cinematic style, with respect visible in every frame, through the means of pure cinema.
Aki Kaurismäki has created a film in which the daring and powerful scale of form, colours and means of expression indicates a fine awareness of tradition in relation to both Finnish and European cinema, and a bold new stylistic move in his own world.
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Review by DARREL MANSON BLOG
Pastor, Artesia Christian Church, Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Darrel has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts.
His reviews usually include independent and significantly important film. |
 What would it mean to have one's past wiped away? Is it the opportunity to start with a clean slate? Or would it take away the good things that one had accumulated through life?
In Man Without a Past a man (known as M) gets off a train in a new town and is beaten by a band of thugs and left for dead. Actually, he actually does die, but then he gets back up -- the beginning of his new life, but one without any memory of what was before. He doesn't know who he is or where he is from, all he has is his present and future.
 Biblical scholar C. H. Dodd said of parables that they left ?the mind is sufficient doubt as to their precise application as to tease them into active thought.? Such is the nature of Man Without a Past. There are many ways of getting into the story. For example, this man beaten and left for dead is taken in and cared for by unlikely people, much as the traveler in Jesus? parable of the Good Samaritan.
 But what I came away with was a look at what it means to have new life. Whatever M was before being attacked is gone. He is in some ways trapped by having lost that past -- without a name and social security number he can't get real work. At the same time, having lost that past, he is also free to live in the present. Even though the present he finds himself in is one of poverty, it is also one that provides him hope.
 The Salvation Army is a central part of this story. M eats at a Salvation Army soup kitchen and goes to work at their thrift store. He meets Irma, a plain, somewhat down cast Salvation Army member and they develop a romance. The Salvation Army has been a source of new life for many people throughout the years. The Army has reached out to and cared for people in need, providing for immediate needs and helping people out of poverty. The Army has helped many people move away from pasts that have ensnared them.
 In M's case, he has already been set free from that past. In his freedom, he helps to bring new life to the Army as well. He helps Irma out of the world of her loneliness. He gets the Salvation Army band to play something a bit more enjoyable. So too when people find the new life that can be found in faith, they often seek to share that new life with others so they can also share in the hope that comes with new life.
 Eventually, we do discover what kind of life M has been set free from. He is fearful when he has to return and discover and confront his past. Then he must decide if he wants that old life, or to live in the new life that he has discovered.
Those who share in a new life of faith often still live in the old life as well. It is always a struggle to live new life when the old life is so close and so familiar. Each day we are called on to choose the life we will live, the old or the new. |
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