Film Forum

(1994) A playful take on Henri Murger’s Scenes de la Vie Boheme, shot in stunning black and white, follows three bohemians on the streets of Paris – an Albanian refugee painter (Matti Pellonpää), a French poet (André Wilms), and an Irish composer (Karl Väänänen) – scraping by, adroitly evading their debts and sharing life’s daily absurdities. Wilms reprises his role here 17 years later in Kaurismäki’s LE HAVRE. The dog is played by Laïka. 35mm print courtesy of Janus Films. Approx. 103 mins.

Reviews

“Here is a fine, deceptively querulous comedy that mocks the conventions of art and romantic love while, at the same time, exalting them as the only means of salvation. Make no mistake about it: Mr. Kaurismaki is an original, one of the cinema’s most distinctive and idiosyncratic new artists, and possibly one of the most serious.”
– Vincent Canby, The New York Times

“Arguably his best film.”
– Andrew O’Hehir, Salon