National and Beyond

The films of Aki and Mika Kaurismäki are part of a globalising Finnish cinema, challenging conventional parameters at every turn. This work examines the films that the Kaurismäkis produced, individually and in collaboration, between 1981 and 1995 - films which mobilise various methods to reflect, criticise, counteract and contribute to the globalisation of Finnish society in the era of late capitalist development. This work provides an in-depth analysis of these films, exploring the aesthetic and narrative content of the films as well as their production and reception in Finland. The theoretical scope of the work situates the films not only in the field of transnational cinema, but also that of 'post-national' cinema. Exploring the Kaurismäkis' films in a post-national framework points to new, emergent understandings of both the fragility and the persistence of national culture and identity in a globalising world.

Autorentext

The Author: Pietari Kp is based at the Institute of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Nottingham Ningbo in China. His research explores transnational connections in the fields of Finnish cinema, European cinema and the global marketplace.

Inhalt

Contents: The cultural context of the Kaurismäkis: Finnish films for Finnish people? - Displaced souls lost in Finland: the Kaurismäkis' films as the cinema of the marginalised - Between convergence and divergence: the transvergent cinemas of Aki and Mika Kaurismäki - Socio-economic exclusion and the fragmented individual: Aki Kaurismäki's 'proletarian-trilogy' and Hamlet Liikemaailmassa - Mika Kaurismäki's 'life-politics trilogy': post-nationalism between the welfare-state and global capitalism - The search for post-national stability: Mika Kaurismäki's international films, 1987-1990 - The problems of post-national integration: Aki Kaurismäki's international films, 1989-1992 - A return to home? Aki Kaurismäki's Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses, Total Balalaika Show and Pidä Huivistasi Kiinni Tatjana - A farewell to Finland: Mika Kaurismäki's The Last Border and Tigrero.