Ariel
TITLE
Ariel
DIRECTOR
Aki Kaurismäki
COUNTRY
Finland
YEAR
1988
DURATION
73′
GENRE
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Overview

Ariel
The movie tells the story of Taisto Kasurinen, a finnish coal miner whose father has just committed suicide and who is framed for a crime he did not commit. In jail, he starts to dream about leaving the country and starting a new life. He escapes from prison but things don't go as planned.

DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY - Aki Kaurismäki
Aki Kaurismäki did a wide variety of jobs including postman, dish-washer and film critic, before forming a production and distribution company, Villealfa (in homage to Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965)) with his older brother Mika Kaurismäki, also a film-maker. Both Aki and Mika are prolific film-makers, and together have been responsible for one-fifth of the total output of the Finnish film industry since the early 1980s, though Aki's work has found more favour abroad. His films are very short (he says a film should never run longer than 90 minutes, and many of his films are nearer 70), eccentric parodies of various genres (road movies, film noir, rock musicals), populated by lugubrious hard-drinking Finns and set to eclectic soundtracks, typically based around '50s rock'n'roll. In the 1990s he has made films in Britain (I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)) and France (The Bohemian Life (1992)).
Credits
- Director Aki Kaurismäki
- Screenplay Aki Kaurismäki
- Cinematography Timo Salminen
- Editing Raija Talvio
- Cast Turo Pajala, Susanna Haavisto, Matti Pellonpää, Eetu Hilkamo
- Producer/s Aki Kaurismäki
- Production Company Villealfa Filmproductions, Finnish Film Foundation
- Distributor/s The Match Factory, Cine Saison, Finnkino
Specifications
- Project Title Ariel
- Project Type Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Completion Date October 1990
- Country of origin Finland
- Country of filming Finland
- Language Finnish
- First-time Filmmaker No
- Student Project No

Aki Kaurismäki
Aki Kaurismäki did a wide variety of jobs including postman, dish-washer and film critic, before forming a production and distribution company, Villealfa (in homage to Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965)) with his older brother Mika Kaurismäki, also a film-maker. Both Aki and Mika are prolific film-makers, and together have been responsible for one-fifth of the total output of the Finnish film industry since the early 1980s, though Aki's work has found more favour abroad. His films are very short (he says a film should never run longer than 90 minutes, and many of his films are nearer 70), eccentric parodies of various genres (road movies, film noir, rock musicals), populated by lugubrious hard-drinking Finns and set to eclectic soundtracks, typically based around '50s rock'n'roll. In the 1990s he has made films in Britain (I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)) and France (The Bohemian Life (1992)).
SELECTIONS & AWARDS

Tirana International Film Festival
Special Screening, 2022