Review from NYFF 2002

The Man Without A Past (Aki Kaurismaki, Finland, Sony Pictures Classics)
Finnish protagonist, M, gets beaten, dies, returns, and starts over with a clean slate thanks to amnesia. A dream come true? Perhaps. And with Kaurismaki's sense of dry humor this movie works well as a dreamy, off-kilter love story. At one point, M is living in a shipping container with a bed, a stove, a faithful dog and a jukebox. True happiness comes to us in strange ways. The rest of the film is as cleanly defined and equally witty.

Perhaps Kaurismaki's most satisfying movie. Middle-age romance, the redemptive power of rock (or rockabilly), deadpan humor, and underclass solidarity. A family of squatters and a Salvation Army volunteer help M find a place in the world. Or is this heaven? Reminded me of Lewis Milestone's Hallelujah, I'm a Bum!, but this time the bum gets the girl (I mean woman).