Shadows in Paradise
(1986)
★ 7.3 IMDb · 449 votes
Year: 1986
Runtime: 74 мин
Country: Finland
Director: Аки Каурисмяки
Cast: Matti Pellonpää, Kati Outinen, Sakari Kuosmanen, Esko Nikkari, Kylli Köngäs, Pekka Laiho, Jukka-Pekka Palo, Svante Korkiakoski, Mari Rantasila, Safka Pekkonen
Plot
Nikander, a rubbish collector and would-be entrepreneur, finds his plans for success dashed when his business associate dies. One evening, he meets Ilona, a down-on-her-luck cashier, in a local supermarket. Falteringly, a bond begins to develop between them.
Only connect. In gray, class-conscious Helsinki, Nikander is a stoic, solitary garbage man. Cigarettes, coffee, bingo games, and English lessons border his circumscribed life. There are few words, no smiles, and no laughter. Violence and the threat of violence seem close at hand. Ilona, a supermarket clerk who frequently loses her job, bandages Nikander's hand one evening; later he gets her out of a jam, and they begin an on-again off-again relationship. "Why do I keep losing?," Nikander asks his co-worker, Melartin, a man Nikander met in jail and helped get a job. Can he break his losing streak?