THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST (a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: The title tells more than expected. A man with amnesia tries to get along in a world that depends on people's memory. The accent is not on piecing together the past, it is on how he survives without a memory of the past. Perhaps his new life is better than the old. In spite of a brutal mugging this becomes one of Aki Kaurismaki's most pleasant films. Rating: 6 (0 to 10), high +1 (-4 to +4)
A man gets off a train, rests in a park, and is brutally mugged. In the hospital he dies. Then a few minutes later he comes back to life but with no memory of his past. He must start his life anew in a society that is not geared to someone who cannot identify himself. THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST was written and directed by Aki Kaurismaki, perhaps the best-known name in Finnish film. Frequently Finnish films are bred of the moods that seem caused by winter light deprivation. In THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST once the initial mugging is over, the tone is mostly upbeat and even whimsical as the man puts together a new life. The title tells much of the premise of the film. It is not so much piecing together his past and just looking at how a man functions without benefit of a past. With no past he cannot identify who he is. He cannot get credit. Nobody knows if they can trust him. He knows a little about his previous self but pieces together that he was a laborer who worked with his hands. He finds he has skills, particularly welding that he must have learned at some point from his previous self. The film has sort of echoes of BAGDAD CAFE where a stranger brings a different attitude and viewpoint to the people she meets.
First the man (the credits call him M) must find a place to live. He is shown an abandoned storage container, possibly for freight, but to him it is a new home. He is living in trash, but is able to form camaraderie with his neighbors. He has to find ways to get food and cook it. So he will have food he plants potatoes and steals electricity.
M finds the charity of a local Salvation Army troop. Their band plays spiritual and uplifting music that interests nobody. M convinces them to try a bit of rock music and it transforms the whole purpose of the band. With one woman he forms a close bond. M is able to make the best of his circumstances and find a positive side while others around him are finding life grimmer. The theme is really rebirth and finding a place to fit into the world when you have lost your own. At the center is the search for dignity and confidence in the midst of undignified circumstance. This film makes it look almost easy and rewarding, which is surprisingly optimistic for a Finnish film.
Kaurismaki tends to linger on scenes slowing the pace of the story much in the style of Jim Jarmasch. Still this is one of Kaurismaki's more pleasant and likeable films. The spirit is upbeat and whimsical rather than brooding. It almost is of the style of Frank Capra. I rate THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST a 6 on the 0 to 10 scale and a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper mleeper@optonline.net Copyright 2002 Mark R. Leeper
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