Film and Finnish Stereotypes. Discretion, Anxiety, and Emotion in Kaurismäki’s Films

02.10.2014

The filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki is considered a stereotype of Finnish cinema. His films are characterized by long shots, selected framings, noticeably reduced dialogue, as well as barrenness, melancholy, and nostalgia. Encountered in his films are characters living on the margins and survivalists who possess certain toughness—a quality that could be paraphrased by the Finnish word “sisu.” A panorama of excerpts from Kaurismäki’s films will be used to present his work as well as the supposed peculiarities of his countrymen.

An event in cooperation with the Project Nordic Images and Perspectives of the Goethe University Frankfurt/Main.