Aki Kaurismäki is a cult and prolific Finnish filmmaker known for his offbeat, deadpan style. One of cinema's great humanists, his films explore the misfortunes of the misfits and disaffected of Helsinki with great affection and droll, sometimes black, humor. Although influenced by filmmakers such as Robert Bresson, Luis Bunuel and Jim Jarmusch, Kaurismaki has a distinctive cinematic style of his own, recognizable by his spare, economical visuals, eclectic soundtracks of vintage rock and pop and use of a regular troupe of actors, including Kati Outinen, Marko Peltola & Matti Pellonpaa... and dogs. Plot: A political drama set in the fictional country of Illyria between 1943 and 1945, the story is about the assassination of a leading politician. The country, an ally of Nazi Germany, is on the verge of being annexed to the Eastern Bloc. Kaurismäki's TV adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's play Les Mains Sales (Dirty Hands) tells the story of Hugo (Matti Pellonpää) who has just been released from prison. Before going to prison, he has worked as a journalist at his party's newspaper. This timid journalist, who uses the pseudonym Raskolnikov, wants to advance in his career and gets his chance when Hoederer (Sulevi Peltola), the leader of the party, has to be eliminated.
Spoiler: However, Hugo's cowardly character is soon revealed, and there is one delay after another in the elimination process. His task is not made any easier by his mean and sarcastic wife Jessica (Kati Outinen), who openly flirts with Hoederer and mocks his husband. Hugo eventually finds his wife in the arms of the party leader and shoots him in a jealous rage. Conditions in the outside world change while Hugo is in prison, and the members of his party send him a box of poisoned chocolate. The chocolate box ends up in the hands of Hugo's cell mate with fatal consequences. When Hugo is released from prison, his position in the party has to be reevaluated. In the last scene Hugo announces to his liquidators that he is "useless."
Spoiler: However, Hugo's cowardly character is soon revealed, and there is one delay after another in the elimination process. His task is not made any easier by his mean and sarcastic wife Jessica (Kati Outinen), who openly flirts with Hoederer and mocks his husband. Hugo eventually finds his wife in the arms of the party leader and shoots him in a jealous rage. Conditions in the outside world change while Hugo is in prison, and the members of his party send him a box of poisoned chocolate. The chocolate box ends up in the hands of Hugo's cell mate with fatal consequences. When Hugo is released from prison, his position in the party has to be reevaluated. In the last scene Hugo announces to his liquidators that he is "useless."
