Review of Drifting Clouds (1996) by Kyle G — 30 Jul 2012

Into a swanky restaurant called Dubrovnik, we get a sumptuous jazz intro that we find out is just the work of the piano bar. Ilona (Kati Outinen) is the hostess of the place. She handily disarms a suddenly vengeful chef, takes care of business, and returns home to an adoring husband Lauri (Kari Väänänen) who's bought a TV on credit for their modest Helsinki apartment.

But soon, they're both loosed into a frightening world of unemployment. Ilona's restaurant is bought out by a bigger company, and the only other job she can find is under a tax-evading creep. Lauri is laid off from his job as a tram driver based on a literal card draw. He loses his license, the TV, everything, and ends up beaten up on a dock alone. They'll have to pick themselves up, get back together, and start a new life.

DRIFTING CLOUDS is Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki's 1996 effort, and it's like a crisper and more perfectly-married THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG: a cute, jazz-accented dramedy about young love.

The music in Kaurismäki's film isn't entirely hammering rockabilly punk like his 1994 TATIANA (by Veikko Tuomi); but two years later, in a more mature and laid-back story, the songs are more mature and laid-back themselves (by Timo Salminen)... folk, especially the wistful Antero Jakoila performance synchronized to the restaurant's farewell night, and touches of jazz. Salminen is normally a cinematographer, so his artistic turn to music supervisor here is all the more interesting.

There are some assorted rich details in the script -- alcohol, executions, crossword puzzles, dry irony -- that are each pretty powerful, and some rich color in general. The whole film has a way with soft and easy touches in a tight story, to create a drama about industry, resources, chutzpah that in turn can make, from the ashes of Dubrovnik, a place your very own called Work.