Popular reviews

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  Review by shookone ★★★★

  very sweet homage to the silent era, Kaurismäki showing his whole skillset here, also getting along without his trademark whimsical dialogues and leaving the humor just as sprinkle for an otherwise devastating story about played naivety, lost love, failed emancipation, destructive manipulation and the honor of a desperate man while the score becomes the secret protagonist.

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★ 3

  Action!: The Deadpan World of Aki Kaurismäki

  Throughout this marathon, I have talked a lot about the performances and the direction, but I never stopped to mention Timo Salmimen's always fantastic cinematography. The film seems to be the best opportunity to speak about him, since he is in many ways the star of the film. The composition, the framing, and the way the film captures so much of the aesthetic of the 20s and 30s movies that it is clear what the film is trying to achieve, but at the same time feels somewhat modern in a way that seems fitting.

  That is not to say that the rest of the film is not equally excellent, if a bit familiar,…

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  Review by Gersonn ★★★★

  Siempre tuve la impresión de que el estilo de Kaurismäki evocaba en algunos aspectos el cine mudo, aunque nunca imaginé que había dirigido toda una película en ese formato.

  Sin duda este es un lindo homenaje a las películas de aquella época.

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  Review by RAFIF ★★★★

  This silent film, based on a 1911 play by Juhani Aho, transports the audience to early 20th century Finland, weaving a tale of love and redemption. Kaurismaki decision to create a silent film in the late 20th century is a bold artistic choice that pays off. The absence of spoken dialogue enhances the film universality, allowing emotions and expressions to take center stage. Kaurismaki uses noir visuals, coupled with a soul stirring musical score, to convey the intricacies of the characters experiences. Juha is not just a silent film its a cinematic experience that transcends language barriers. Aki Kaurismaki masterful storytelling, coupled with brilliant performances and striking noir visuals, makes this adaptation a timeless piece of art that resonates with audiences on a profound level. .

  Aki Kaurismaki Ranked 🇫🇮

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  Review by Jonathan White ★★★★★

  Whistle stop #13, Finland, on:

  Lise & jonnie Around the World 2016

  I thought I knew Aki Kaurismaki. From the first time I accidentally discovered him, on TV, dubbed in Greek with English sub-titles, in an Athens hotel room. What were these characters with pointy shoes and hair-doos to match? I remember grinning like a fool.

  In the ensuing years, I’ve seen almost every Aki film, and read countless interviews and articles, and I thought I had an assured knowledge of his progression. From the wonderfully over the top absurdity of Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana, to the more subtle and refined Le Harvre. I’m now at the point in my Aki appreciation that I’m picking up on the few…

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  Review by Hutch ★★★½

  This was the last silent film to be made in the 20th century. As such it is both a homage and a parody, finding a welcome middle ground that is a little ironic, a little bit dark, and mostly just very sweet-natured. It’s something of an inverted, updated version of Murnau’s Sunrise, although it doesn’t try to emulate that film’s high art.

  Aki Kaurismaki’s film tells the story of the middle-aged and lame Juha and his younger orphan bride Marja. They’re two Finnish lovebirds, as happy as children, as the first intertitle tells us. But their rural idyll is destroyed when city-slicker Shemeikka’s sports car breaks down. While he’s waiting for it to be fixed he takes a shine to…

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  Review by Suvranil Singha Chowdhury ★★★½

  Aki Kaurismäki has said that his goal is to make films that can be understood across cultures without any subtitles. He never needed much dialogue, in his films his characters speak little and what they say are monosyllables or cold responses. In JUHA he adapts one of the most important Finnish novels by Juhani Aho (marking this as the fourth time the novel was adapted for the screen) into a melodrama that contrasts the simplicity and honesty of country people with the malice and perversion of city dwellers.

  The peasants are innocent and happy while those in the city are pimps and poker players. As always there is a hero who sacrifices himself against an evil person, everything is done…

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  Review by gibson8 ★★

  Kaurismaki apparently only made this the last 'silent film of the century' because Andre Wilms couldn't speak Finnish. This is one of, if not, his weakest film because of the lack of dialogue. Some directors can remove words and let their images speak but in making this decision Kaurismaki is misinterpreting or ignoring the formula that makes his work so memorable.

  The, at times, discordant and cheap sounding score does him no favours as it just emphasises the lack of humour and highlights the need for a Finnish voice to puncture the tedium. The story whilst being well-known in Finland seems tired and doesn't have the usual strong sense of place and identity of his other work.

  For completists only.

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  Review by Kilian 🎞️ ★★★

  Kilians & Tycios Movie-Night Challenge 2024
  Woche 15 von 52: Ein Stummfilm
  Ausgewählt von Tycio.

  Weniger verschroben als ich es von Kaurismäki gewohnt bin, ist »Juha« dennoch mit genug typisch finnischer Eigenheit gesegnet, um der eigentlich eher banalen Dreiecks-Geschichte ein wenig Pfiff geben. Gestört hat mich allerdings die Besetzung - bei vollem Verständnis für Marjas Unzufriedenheit, Shemeikka ist hier so ein schmieriger Typ, dass es schwer vorzustellen ist, warum sie ausgerechnet mit ihm durchbrennen wollen würde. Auch dass er Juha als alten Mann bezeichnet, wo er doch selbst locker zehn Jahre älter wirkt ist kurios.

  Künstlerisch ist das natürlich alles famos, die Bilder fangen das zunehmend bedrückende Leben Marjas glaubhaft ein und die Musik ist das heimliche Highlight des Films - so viel zu Stummfilm. Inhaltlich gefallen mir Kaurismäkis selbst geschrieben Werke bisher aber besser.

  Zu Tycios Review.

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  Review by Michael Stuhlman ★★★★

  One of Kaurismaki's most delightful films. This modern silent film is a dark comedy thats equal parts hilarious and tragic. Probably one of the most underrated movies I've seen recently.

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  Review by seb ★★★★

  The incipient investigation into the conflict between rural and city life (initiated by Ariel) here finds its climax, precisely through a rejection of the initial signifiers - i.e. economic factors - instead channeling the purity of silent romance. Each way of life is assigned a shade, the one always, and necessarily, shrouded in the presentiment of the other. As fun as it is to see Kaurismäki play around with his influences, delightfully reveling in the profuse possibilities of expressionism, the film is at its most startling when it frees itself from that very foundation, the contemporaneous privilege of confluence reeling diegetic sounds back in - most remarkably done in the scene of Juha burnishing his axe.

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  Review by jeff ★★★★

  Literally the best soundtrack of anything