The Other Side of Hope
Toivon tuolla puolen
Finland • 2017
Director
#922Criterion Collection →Synopsis
Directed by Aki Kaurismäki • 2017 • FinlandStarring Sherwan Haji, Sakari Kuosmanen This wry, melancholic comedy from Aki Kaurismäki, a response to the ongoing global refugee crisis, follows two people searching for a place to call home. Khaled (Sherwan Haji), a displaced Syrian, lands in Helsinki as a stowaway; meanwhile, middle-aged Finnish salesman Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) leaves his wife and his job and buys a conspicuously unprofitable restaurant. Khaled is denied asylum but decides not to return to Aleppo, and the paths of the two men cross fortuitously. As deadpan as the best of the director's work, and with a deep well of empathy for its down-but-not-out characters (many of them played by members of Kaurismäki's loyal stock company), THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE is a bittersweet celebration of pockets of human kindness in an unwelcoming world.
Synopsis
Directed by Aki Kaurismäki • 2017 • FinlandStarring Sherwan Haji, Sakari Kuosmanen This wry, melancholic comedy from Aki Kaurismäki, a response to the ongoing global refugee crisis, follows two people searching for a place to call home. Khaled (Sherwan Haji), a displaced Syrian, lands in Helsinki as a stowaway; meanwhile, middle-aged Finnish salesman Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) leaves his wife and his job and buys a conspicuously unprofitable restaurant. Khaled is denied asylum but decides not to return to Aleppo, and the paths of the two men cross fortuitously. As deadpan as the best of the director's work, and with a deep well of empathy for its down-but-not-out characters (many of them played by members of Kaurismäki's loyal stock company), THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE is a bittersweet celebration of pockets of human kindness in an unwelcoming world.
Criterion Closet Pick
(1)
Credits
Crew
DirectorAki Kaurismäki
WriterAki Kaurismäki
CinematographerTimo Salminen
EditorSamu Heikkilä
ProducerAki Kaurismäki
Cast
Sherwan Hajias Khaled
Sakari Kuosmanenas Wikström
Kaija Pakarinenas Wikström's Wife
Niroz Hajias Miriam
Janne Hyytiäinenas Nyrhinen