Christopher Culver The Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki has made several films about the "little people" in society, hardworking folk who have a spot of bad luck and risk being overlooked by the state bureaucracy and business development schemes that are ostensibly there to help them. KAUAS PILVET KARKAAVAT from 1996 (released as "Drifting Clouds" in English-speaking markets) is one such tale of adversity. Ilona (Kati Outinen) and Lauri (Kari Väänänen) are a happy married couple. One day, Lauri loses his job as a tram driver when the cancellation of some routes makes him redundant. Soon after this Ilona, head water of a fancy restaurant, finds the restaurant bought out by new owners who don't need the old staff. We see Lauri and Ilona turned down from one job after another, facing repo men and shady characters taking advantage of their desperation for work, yet in many respects the film is a comedy. Kaurismäki's humour is extremely deadpan, at some points perhaps too subtle for audiences outside Finland, but it's still generally fun and there are some laugh-out-loud moments.The film has a strong magical realist feel. Part of this is that the film is ostensibly set during the present day, but the characters and many of the interior sets seem to have stepped out of the 1950s. This is a key feature of Kaurismäki's aesthetic and found throughout his work. But also Ilona and Lauri's insistence on making it on their own, without accepting unemployment money from the state, is plausible but somehow not the expected course of events in 1990s Finland. Kaurismäki was to emphasize distrust of the welfare state in his later film MIES VAILLA MENESYYTTA (Man Without a Past), but there he was too heavy-handed in his criticism, while here there's more a tone of quiet nobility than bitterness.While the happy ending is too much of a deus ex machina, I greatly enjoyed KAUAS PILVET KARKAAVAT. What really drives the film is the quirky face of Kati Outinen, who in spite of all her defeats rolls with the punches and whose eyes maintain boundless optimism, like an adorable stray puppy. Kaurismäki demands deadpan acting, and Outinen has always acted in his films with a deliberately limited range of expression, but one really appreciates how she discovers subtle degrees of deadpanness: her Ilona is vastly different from, say, her role in Kaurismäki's VARJOJA PARATIIISISSA of a few years before. The performance by Markku Peltola as a drunken cook is also memorable. Finally, the film's colour palette is striking, showing a new maturity in design from the already veteran director.

kakoilija I'm sad to say that this is the best of Finnish cinema. Finnish cinema is otherwise uttercrap! I wouldn't say that this is a good movie... it's entertaining and definitely worth watching.However, it is like all Aki's movies. Nothing new here either... I mean... I think that Man Without Memory is better. The newest movie by aki is worse than all the rest...Yes rent it and see if you haven't seen other Kaurismäki movies. I think that the paste is a little slow... also the cinematography is definitely NOT great.People are like people who live in the country side in Finland. Some people are still doing a lot worse than this... I've seen so many junkies and alcoholics in my life... that the life of this couple may be poor, but definitely not as complicated as could be.Still this is the best of Finnish cinema, which is otherwise not even mentionable. =D

unkka Celebration for unacting! If you like movies where less is saying more - this is your movie. The wonderful positive attitude of people in difficult situations is something to learn from. Kati Outinen is great - again. She suits this movie perfectly. Kari Väänänen as her husband is the perfect Finnish hard working man whose life isn't a struggle but an art-form it self. Also Markku Peltola as a cook gives once again a memorable performance. The music moves the scenes into another level. Finnish melancholic tango in this environment makes almost a conflict between the things happening in the screen and the music. What a wonderful tribute to Matti Pellonpää.

niwasan This is a very interesting film, the complete opposite of the glamour of hollywood. It is very slow, but I was never bored, and the lack of sentimentality is very refreshing.If you ever get the opportunity, do sit down and take the time to watch it.