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Aki Kaurismäki (born April 4, 1957) is a Finnish script writer and film director.

Aki Kaurismäki started his career as a co-director in the films of his elder brother Mika Kaurismäki. His debut as independent director was Crime and Punishment (1983), Dostoevsky's famous crime story set into modern-day Helsinki.

He gained worldwide fame with his movie Leningrad Cowboys Go America.

His style has been influenced a lot by such directors as Jean-Pierre Melville and Robert Bresson, as he relies on low-key acting and simple cinematic storytelling to get his message(s) across. Critics have also seen an influence from Rainer Werner Fassbinder but Kaurismäki - a keen film buff himself - has said that he somehow never got around to seeing any Fassbinder movies until recent years. His movies have a unique downplayed humorous side that can also be seen in the films of Jim Jarmusch, who has a cameo in Kaurismäki's film Leningrad Cowboys Go America. Jarmusch also used frequent Kaurismäki actors in his film Night on Earth, a part of which takes place in Helsinki, Finland.

It is often mentioned how the opening sequence to The Match Factory Girl bears a striking similarity to the opening sequence of David Lynch's Twin Peaks: a close up of a large log being cut and stripped in mill - though in Lynch's case it is a saw mill and in Kaurismäki's a match-factory. Kaurismäki's film was made at the same time as Lynch's TV series (1990), so the similarities are simply coincidence. However, it is interesting to compare them: the music-less neo-realism of Kaurismäki's vision versus the romantic synthesizer-strings music yet almost surreal vision of Lynch.

Much of his work is centred on his native city of Helsinki, particularly Calamari Union which is largely set in the working class neighbourhood of Kallio, and the trilogy which is comprised of Shadows in Paradise, Ariel, and The Match Factory Girl. His vision of Helsinki is, it should be noted, both critical and singularly unromantic. Indeed, the characters often speak about how they wish to get away from Helsinki: some end up in South America [Ariel], others in Estonia [Kalamari Union and Take Care of Your Scarf Tatjana].

In terms of awards, Kaurismäki's most successful movie, for the time being, has been The Man Without a Past. It won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002 and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category in 2003. However, Kaurismäki refused to attend the gala.

Filmography

Fiction films

Rikos ja rangaistus (Crime and Punishment), 1983
Calamari Union, 1985
Varjoja paratiisissa (Shadows in Paradise), 1986
Hamlet liikemaailmassa (Hamlet Goes Business), 1987
Ariel, 1988
Likaiset kädet (Les mains sales), 1989 (production for Finnish TV)
Leningrad Cowboys Go America, 1989
Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö (The Match Factory Girl), 1990
I Hired a Contract Killer, 1990
Boheemielämää (La vie de bohème), 1992
Pidä huivista kiinni, Tatjana (Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana), 1994
Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses, 1994
Kauas pilvet karkaavat (Drifting Clouds), 1996
Juha, 1999
Mies vailla menneisyyttä (The Man Without a Past) (2002)
Dogs Have No Hell (a 10 minute episode in the collaborative film Ten Minutes Older - The Trumpet), 2002
Laitakaupungin valot (2006)

Documentaries

Saimaa-ilmiö (Saimaa Gesture), 1981
Total Balalaika Show, 1994

Short films

Rocky VI, 1986 (8 min)
Through the Wire, 1987 (6 min)
Rich Little Bitch, 1987 (6 min)
L.A. Woman, 1987 (5 min)
Those Were The Days, 1991 (5 min)
These Boots, 1992 (5 min)
Välittäjä, 1996?

References

Roger Connah K/K: A Couple of Finns and Some Donald Ducks: Cinema and Society. VAPK Pub., Helsinki, 1991 [A remarkable placement of both Aki and Mika Kaurismäki's films within Finnish society. Witty and erudite]

External links

Siunattu teknologia!, comprehensive fan site of the films of Kaurismäki brothers.
Virtual Finland Aki
In-depth interview with Aki Kaurismaki
'I am a Lousy Film-maker' - interview with Aki Kaurismaki

Kaurismäki facts

Aki Kaurismäki at IMDb

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 His style has been influenced a lot by such directors as [[Jean-Pierre Melville]] and [[Robert Bresson]], as he relies on low-key acting and simple cinematic storytelling to get his message(s) across. Critics have also seen an influence from [[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]] but Kaurismäki - a keen film buff himself - has said that he somehow never got around to seeing any Fassbinder movies until recent years. His movies have a unique downplayed humorous side that can also be seen in the films of [[Jim Jarmusch]], who has a cameo in Kaurismäki's film ''Leningrad Cowboys Go America''. Jarmusch also used frequent Kaurismäki actors in his film ''[[Night on Earth]]'', a part of which takes place in [[Helsinki]], Finland.
-It is often mentioned how the opening sequence to ''The Match Factory Girl'' bears a striking similarity to the opening sequence of [[David Lynch]]'s [[Twin Peaks]]: a close up of production in a saw mill. Kaurismäki's film was made at the same time as Lynch's TV series (1990), so the similarities are simply coincidence. However, it is interesting to compare them: the music-less neo-realism of Kaurismäki's vision versus the romantic synthesizer-strings music yet almost surreal vision of Lynch.
+It is often mentioned how the opening sequence to ''The Match Factory Girl'' bears a striking similarity to the opening sequence of [[David Lynch]]'s [[Twin Peaks]]: a close up of a large log being cut and stripped in mill - though in Lynch's case it is a saw mill and in Kaurismäki's a match-factory. Kaurismäki's film was made at the same time as Lynch's TV series (1990), so the similarities are simply coincidence. However, it is interesting to compare them: the music-less neo-realism of Kaurismäki's vision versus the romantic synthesizer-strings music yet almost surreal vision of Lynch.
 Much of his work is centred on his native city of [[Helsinki]], particularly ''Calamari Union'' which is largely set in the working class neighbourhood of [[Kallio]], and the trilogy which is comprised of ''Shadows in Paradise'', ''Ariel'', and ''The Match Factory Girl''. His vision of Helsinki is, it should be noted, both critical and singularly unromantic. Indeed, the characters often speak about how they wish to get away from Helsinki: some end up in [[South America]] [Ariel], others in [[Estonia]] [Kalamari Union and Take Care of Your Scarf Tatjana].