The Man Without a Past (2002)
Only my second Aki Kaurismäki film and this was also great, involving one of my favorite film themes with loss of identity. The opening premise is a bit absurd with a man being almost beaten to death by thugs, gets to a hospital and is declared dead by the doctor. Yet to miraculously revive seconds after and the next scene we see him lying in the harbour where poor people live in containers. He doesn’t remember who he is, but through compassionate help from others and by simply being a decent humble person himself, he starts a new simple life starting from literally nothing. Though that isn’t always easy when society expects one to have a name and a social security number for most things.
What makes this work is the unique balance of black comedy combined with a general positive message about decent people doing better for themselves through compassion and willingness to see the best in people.
While I did find most of the film to be in the lighter slightly amusing area, the ending does turn the tone around a bit for something with deeper emotional impact about letting go of the past and accepting a new identity.
Rating: 4