Aki Kaurismäki - Ariel - Mikkonen's Death - Coolest Death Scene Ever - Matti Pellonpää Kaurismaki

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• published: 09 May 2009
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This is a clip from Arial, one of Kaurismäki's most talked about and critically appreciated films and the film where, arguably, Kaurismäki found his true voice. Prior to Arial, only Kaurismäki's fourth feature presentation, he had released three films, Crime and Punishment (Rikos ja rangaistus), Calamari Union and Hamlet Goes Business (Hamlet liikemaailmassa), two of which were adaptations of other artists works, albeit with what would become the distinctive Kaurismäki stamp, and the other was more of an homage or experiment into the world of classic screwball comedy. When Ariel came along in 1990, it seemed that Kaurismäki had truly found his way and had made something that, while only just over an hour long, was memorable, beautiful written, dark, colourful, deep and subtle in it's humour, in the way only a Kaurismäki film can be. In this particular scene, we see the main character, Kasurinen's (Turo Pajala) friend and fellow jail-breaker Mikkonen, expertly played as ever by Matti Pellonpää, heading into the office of a man who hired them to rob a bank, as they needed some cash having broken out of prison earlier in the film. This is a cast-iron classic Kaurismäki moment with everything from ironic humour, deep-pan dialogue and touching beauty. It is an essential scene to see, arguably a scene that the 'highly original' Quentin Tarantino may have seen a fair few times before producing what is considered his best work. It also has what is arguably one of the coolest death scenes ever put to film, with a message that comes in the most unlikely of places; Mikkonen finding the button in the back of the car that they had been looking for for months, teaches us that, even if it's at the very end, we all find what we are looking for.