"Toivon tuolla puolen" or "The Other Side of Hope" is a Finnish 95-minute movie from this year (2017) and the newest work by the country's most known filmmaker ever I guess: Aki Kaurismäki. He has not worked on new projects since 2013, so expectations may be a bit high for this one here, but eventually they are not disappointed, even if the big awards recognition the Berlin Film Festival gave this one may be slightly exaggerated. This is basically the story of two men: a refugee (yep current issue) and a Finnish man who needs to sort out his professional life again at a relatively high age. Early on we see them for themselves before they meet each other and this is probably where the movie is at its weakest. The interactions aren't too interesting to be honest. The part with the lady talking about going to Mexico was just plain weird, even if some people in the audience of my showing found it funny for whatever reason. And the early scenes with the refugee felt fairly forgettable and generic as well in my opinion. These were part of when the film took itself more seriously than it really should. I think it was at its very best when they just went for the comedy really, i.e. for example when they turn the restaurant in an Asian restaurant. Evidence of this is enough when there is a reference to an Indian restaurant and audience members (including myself) thought this would be their next attempt, but it was an actual Indian restaurant. The restaurant scenes were just the best, especially the parts that included the bearded guy working there.
The ending I wasn't too fond of either unfortunately. It's once again too much drama and I expect more than random stuff about fascist wanting to set immigrants on fire or stabbing them. Also the way they were depicted as idiots calling him a Jew did not feel as convincing or smart as it was supposed to. So yeah, I definitely wish this could have been a much lighter work. The final shot certainly shows us that the drama is dominant here and not the comedy. But that's of course personal preference. other audience members may have liked the drama parts much more than the comedy. Anyway, Kaurismäki also includes some music in here and with that he goes back to the roots of his Leningrad Cowboys filmmaking days. I thought it was a solid little addition. As a whole thanks to the middle part basically I enjoyed the watch overall without being too enthusiastic about it and I also think it ended up not half as deep in terms of characters or story-telling as Kaurismäki would have wanted it to be. But why does it have to. It can work for other reasons too and actually it does. I wonder if Finland will submit it to the next Oscars. The subject is one that certainly can help it in scoring a nomination. But it's still a long long time until then with this year's Oscars only being a month in the past. Make sure you see this little film if it plays near you. You will not be disappointed. Just don't travel miles for it.
The ending I wasn't too fond of either unfortunately. It's once again too much drama and I expect more than random stuff about fascist wanting to set immigrants on fire or stabbing them. Also the way they were depicted as idiots calling him a Jew did not feel as convincing or smart as it was supposed to. So yeah, I definitely wish this could have been a much lighter work. The final shot certainly shows us that the drama is dominant here and not the comedy. But that's of course personal preference. other audience members may have liked the drama parts much more than the comedy. Anyway, Kaurismäki also includes some music in here and with that he goes back to the roots of his Leningrad Cowboys filmmaking days. I thought it was a solid little addition. As a whole thanks to the middle part basically I enjoyed the watch overall without being too enthusiastic about it and I also think it ended up not half as deep in terms of characters or story-telling as Kaurismäki would have wanted it to be. But why does it have to. It can work for other reasons too and actually it does. I wonder if Finland will submit it to the next Oscars. The subject is one that certainly can help it in scoring a nomination. But it's still a long long time until then with this year's Oscars only being a month in the past. Make sure you see this little film if it plays near you. You will not be disappointed. Just don't travel miles for it.