Varjoja paratiisissa (1986)

Director:

Aki Kaurismäki

Writer:

Aki Kaurismäki (writer)

Release Date:

17 October 1986 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

An episode in the life of Nikander, a garbage man, involving the death of a co-worker, an affair and much more.

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Matti Pellonpää	...	Nikander
Kati Outinen	...	Ilona Rajamäki
Sakari Kuosmanen	...	Melartin
Esko Nikkari	...	Co-worker (työkaveri)
Kylli Köngäs	...	Ilona's Girlfriend (ystävätär)
Pekka Laiho	...	Shop Steward (myymälänhoitaja)
Jukka-Pekka Palo	...	Third Man (kolmasmies)
Svante Korkiakoski	...	Police (poliisi)
Mari Rantasila	...	Nikander's Sister (Nikanderin sisar)
Safka Pekkonen	...	Pianist (pianisti) (as Safka)
Antti Ortamo	...	2nd pianist (pianisti II)
Mato Valtonen	...	Pelle (as Markku Valtonen)
Sakke Järvenpää	...	Staffan (as Sakari Järvenpää)
Ulla Kuosmanen	...	Melartin's wife (Melartinin vaimo)
Neka Haapanen	...	Cook (kokki)
Pentti Koski	...	Singer (laulusolisti)
Ari Korhonen
Teuvo Rissanen
Erkki Rissanen
Sirkka Silin
Marina Martinoff
Jussi Tiitinen
Riikka Kuosmanen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aki Kaurismäki	...	Hotel receptionist (uncredited)

Directed by
Aki Kaurismäki

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Aki Kaurismäki		writer

Produced by
Mika Kaurismäki	....	producer

Cinematography by
Timo Salminen

Film Editing by
Raija Talvio

Art Direction by
Pertti Hilkamo
Heikki Ukkonen

Costume Design by
Tuula Hilkamo

Makeup Department
Leena Kouhia	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jaakko Talaskivi	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pauli Pentti	....	assistant director

Art Department
Pertti Hilkamo	....	property master
Heikki Ukkonen	....	property master

Sound Department
Juuso Hirvikangas	....	assistant sound recordist
Jouko Lumme	....	sound editor
Jouko Lumme	....	sound
Kjell Westman	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Marja-Leena Helin	....	still photographer
Timo Markko	....	assistant camera
Mikko Mattila	....	lighting technician
Heikki Ortamo	....	assistant camera
Olli Varja	....	lighting technician

Editorial Department
Eila Karkkunen	....	negative cutter
Timo Nousiainen	....	color grader
Jukka Nykänen	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Haije Alanoja	....	production secretary
Marja-Leena Helin	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Villealfa Filmproduction Oy

Distributors

• Al!ve AG (2007) (Germany) (DVD) (Aki Kaurismäki Collection I)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Eclipse from the Criterion Collection (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Finnkino

Also Known As:

Shadows in Paradise

Runtime:

USA:76 min

Country:

Finland

Language:

Finnish | Swedish | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:S

Company:

Villealfa Filmproduction Oy

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Nikander and Ilona leave the gas station and ride down the road, they pass a white car. The white car is standing still in the middle of the road. Presumably they drove so fast that they passed the white car, but it stands still.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Nikander: Friday!
Co-worker: [co-worker is offering Nikander a drink] You want?
Nikander: I'm driving.
Co-worker: Listen, Nikander. We've been a team quite a while. But I've been doing this for 25 years. I'm getting tired and so is my heart.
Nikander: What's the matter with it?
Co-worker: What ever.
Nikander: I've got an idea - my own company. Five trucks to start with...
Co-worker: What does it end?
Co-worker: The sky is the limit. The state and the banks will back us. I know everything about this game, but I'm not going to die behind the wheel.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Matka suomalaiseen elokuvaan: Kaupunkiblues (#1.3)" (2006)

A beautiful example of minimalism.

After a stunning debut, Crime and Punishment, and a bizarre, experimental second feature, Calamari Union, Aki Kaurismäki began doing what he's best at: telling the stories of Finnish underdogs'everyday experiences. And it all started with Shadows in Paradise, the first installment of the "workers trilogy" (continued with Ariel and The Match Factory Girl), and arguably Kaurismäki's finest film (at least until he made The Man Without a Past). It also marked his first collaboration with Kati Outinen, who has become the very symbol, alongside the late Matti Pellonpää, of Kaurismäki's cinema.

Fittingly, Pellonpää and Outinen are the leading couple of shadows in Paradise. He reprises the role of Nikander he previously played in Crime and Punishment, with more English lessons (which originate his best line, at the end of the film) and trouble at work: his plans to start his own business get buried with his associate (Esko Nikkari), who commits suicide five minutes into the movie. While looking for a new job, he meets Ilona (Outinen), who works as a cashier in a Helsinki supermarket. The two start hanging out, eventually forming a sweet, if platonic, bond, occasionally threatened by Nikander's apparent cynicism.

The film's magic resides entirely in its minimalism: little dialogue, sober settings, raw, Finnish humor, real, likable characters and no overacting, as Kaurismäki tells his simple, universal, incredibly touching love story. Pellonpää and Outinen's understated, affecting performances complete each other, with valuable support from Sakari Kuosmanen as Melartin, Nikander's best friend, who even steals from his own daughter to finance his buddy's dates. Not that his behavior is exemplary, but it shows how much these people care for each other, and that's where Kaurismäki succeeds: he makes us emphasize with these characters despite their many flaws, and delivers an astounding, memorable picture.

A true masterpiece of Finnish film-making, from the best director that country has ever spawned.