The Man Without a Past

For the television episode, see Man Without a Past (The Professionals).

The Man Without a Past
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Aki Kaurismäki
Written by	Aki Kaurismäki
Produced by	Aki Kaurismäki
Starring	Markku Peltola Kati Outinen Annikki Tähti Juhani Niemelä Kaija Pakarinen Tähti-Koira Sakari Kuosmanen Marko Haavisto & Poutahoukat Esko Nikkari Outi Mäenpää Perti Sveholm Matti Wuori Aino Seppo Janne Hyytiäinen Elina Salo Anneli Sauli
Cinematography	Timo Salminen
Edited by	Timo Linnasalo
Music by	Leevi Madetoja
Distributed by	United International Pictures[1]
Release date	1 March 2002 (2002-03-01)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Finland
Language	Finnish
Budget	€1,206,000[2]
Box office	$9,564,237

The Man Without a Past (Finnish: Mies vailla menneisyyttä) is a 2002 Finnish comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Aki Kaurismäki. Starring Markku Peltola, Kati Outinen and Juhani Niemelä, it is the second installment in Kaurismäki's Finland trilogy, the other two films being Drifting Clouds (1996) and Lights in the Dusk (2006). The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2002 (the only Finnish film so far) and won the Grand Prix at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.^[3]

Plot

A man arrives in Helsinki at night by train and falls asleep on a park bench. There, he is assaulted by three criminals. He ends up in a coma and is declared dead at the hospital. After the doctors leave, he awakens and leaves the hospital in bandages. The Nieminen family, residing in an abandoned shipping container at the port, discover him by the sea in the morning. They take him in, nurse him back to health, but he has lost his memory, not even recalling his own name.

The marginalized residents of the harbor come to the aid of the man as he embarks on a fresh start. Anttila, a tough harbor guard involved in providing makeshift homes in empty shipping containers, arranges one for the man. Despite his efforts to find work, the man faces setbacks due to his lack of memory and inability to recall his name, leading to his rejection from the employment office. However, he meets Irma, who volunteers with the Salvation Army, who helps him secure a job at their thrift store. While working there, he convinces the Salvation Army band to incorporate rhythm music into their performances and persuades their leader to join as a vocalist. Alongside this, a romantic relationship develops between the man and Irma.

Observing welders at the shipyard triggers a recollection for the man—he realizes he is a welder by trade. He is offered a job, but to get on the shipyard's payroll, he needs to open a bank account. However, the bank refuses due to his lack of a name. Adding to his troubles, he becomes an unwitting witness to a bank robbery. Despite his attempts to explain his situation to the police, they do not believe him, and he ends up in jail. A lawyer from the Salvation Army intervenes, however, securing his release. Later, the man encounters the bank robber at a bar, who shares his motive—a grudge against the bank for bankrupting his earthmoving company and leaving his employees unpaid. Promising to deliver the stolen money to the employees, the man leaves. Afterwards, the bank robber shoots himself.

The man's identity is unveiled by the police when his wife from Nurmes recognizes him in a newspaper article about the bank robbery. Irma, shocked by this revelation, ends their relationship, leaving the man feeling dejected. He returns to Nurmes where he reunites with his wife and discovers that their marriage fell apart due to his gambling addiction. He decides to go back to his newfound life in Helsinki.

Upon his return to the harbor, he crosses paths with the three criminals who attacked him earlier. However, the harbor residents, led by Anttila, rally together to confront and defeat them. Eventually, the man and Irma reconcile, and they stroll hand in hand through the harbor, accompanied by the song "Muistatko Monrepos'n" sung by Annikki Tähti.

Cast

• Markku Peltola as M
• Kati Outinen as Irma
• Juhani Niemelä as Nieminen
• Kaija Pakarinen as Kaisa Nieminen
• Sakari Kuosmanen as Anttila
• Annikki Tähti as Manager of Flea Market
• Anneli Sauli as Bar Owner
• Elina Salo as Dock Clerk
• Outi Mäenpää as Bank Clerk
• Esko Nikkari as Bank Robber
• Pertti Sveholm as Police Detective
• Matti Wuori as himself (lawyer)
• Aino Seppo as Ex-wife
• Janne Hyytiäinen as Ovaskainen
• Antti Reini as Electrician

Production

The Man Without a Past was co-produced by the Finnish companies Sputnik and YLE, the German companies Bavaria Film Studios and Pandora Filmproduktion and the French company Pyramide Productions.^{[citation needed]}

Critical reception

The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 98%, based on 99 critics, with an average rating of 7.98/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Kaurismäki delivers another droll comedy full of his trademark humor."^[4] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 84 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[5] Roger Ebert awarded the film three-and-a-half stars out of 4, saying he "felt a deep but indefinable contentment".^[6] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said the film "contains not one false note. It is the work of an artist fully in control of his art."^[7] Barbara Scharres of the Chicago Reader said that Kaurismäki "perfects his trademark formula of deadpan humor and arctic circle pathos in this brilliantly ironic 2002 comedy."^[8]

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations

Award	Year	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
ACCEC Awards	2002	Best Foreign Film	Aki Kaurismäki	Won	^[citation needed]
Academy Awards	2002	Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated	[9]
Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards	2002	Best Foreign Film		Nominated	^[citation needed]
Bangkok International Film Festival	2003	Best Actress	Kati Outinen	Won	[10][11]
		Best Screenplay	Aki Kaurismäki	Won
		Best Film	Aki Kaurismäki	Nominated
Bodil Awards	2002	Best Non-American Film	Aki Kaurismäki	Nominated	^[citation needed]
Camerimage	2002	Golden Frog	Timo Salminen	Nominated	^[citation needed]
Cannes Film Festival	2002	Best Actress	Kati Outinen	Won	[12]
		Grand Prize of the Jury	Aki Kaurismäki	Won
		Prize of the Ecumenical Jury	Aki Kaurismäki	Won
		Golden Palm	Aki Kaurismäki	Nominated
		Palm Dog	Tähti	Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	2002	Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated	^[citation needed]
César Awards	2002	Best European Union Film		Nominated	^[citation needed]
European Film Awards	2002	Audience Award - Best Director	Aki Kaurismäki	Nominated	^[citation needed]
		Best Actor	Markku Peltola	Nominated
		Best Actress	Kati Outinen	Nominated
		Best Cinematographer	Timo Salminen	Nominated
		Best Director	Aki Kaurismäki	Nominated
		Best Film	Aki Kaurismäki	Nominated
		Best Screenwriter	Aki Kaurismäki	Nominated
Fajr Film Festival	2002	International Competition - Best Screenplay	Aki Kaurismäki	Won	^[citation needed]
Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards	2002	Best Foreign-Language Film		Nominated	^[citation needed]
Film Fest Gent	2002	Grand Prix	Aki Kaurismäki	Won	^[citation needed]
Guldbagge Awards	2002	Best Foreign Film		Won	^[citation needed]
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists	2002	Best Director - Foreign Film	Aki Kaurismäki	Nominated	^[citation needed]
Jussi Awards	2002	Best Film		Won	^[citation needed]
		Best Actress	Kati Outinen	Won
		Best Cinematography	Timo Salminen	Won
		Best Direction	Aki Kaurismäki	Won
		Best Editing	Timo Linnasalo	Won
		Best Script	Aki Kaurismäki	Won
		Best Actor	Markku Peltola	Nominated
Lübeck Nordic Film Days	2002	Audience Prize	Aki Kaurismäki	Won	^[citation needed]
National Society of Film Critics Awards	2002	Best Foreign Language Film		Won	^[citation needed]
Nordic Council	2002	Nordic Council's Film Prize	Aki Kaurismäki	Won	^[citation needed]
Palm Springs International Film Festival	2002	FIPRESCI Prize	Aki Kaurismäki	Won	^[citation needed]
Robert Festival	2002	Best Non-American Film	Aki Kaurismäki	Nominated	^[citation needed]
San Sebastián International Film Festival	2002	FIPRESCI Film of the Year	Aki Kaurismäki	Won	^[citation needed]

References

1. Neiiendam, Jacob (29 May 2002). "The Man Without A Past has a promising future". Screen International. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
2. "Production support for Finnish films 1998-2004" (PDF) (in Finnish). Finnish Film Foundation. 6 March 2004. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
3. Fauth, Jurgen. The Man Without a Past Archived 6 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, About.com. Accessed 5 February 2008.
4. The Man Without a Past at Rotten Tomatoes. Archived 18 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 27 March 2017.
5. The Man Without a Past at Metacritic. Archived 12 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 27 March 2017.
6. Ebert, Roger. The Man Without a Past Archived 7 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, RogerEbert.com, 27 June 2003. Accessed 30 January 2016.
7. Honeycutt, Kirk. The Man Without A Past (Finland), The Hollywood Reporter, 1 January 2005. Accessed 5 February 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2006.
8. Scharres, Barbara (10 January 2003). "The Man Without a Past". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
9. "The 75th Academy Awards (2003) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. AMPAS. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
10. Watson, Nigel. Bangkok International Film Festival 2003, Talking Pix; retrieved 2007-12-22
11. Hessey, Ruth. 23 January 2003. Bangkok finds its Golden Kinaree, The Age; Retrieved 2007-12-22
12. "Mies Vailla Menneisyytta (The Man Without A Past)". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 30 January 2016.

External links

• The Man Without a Past at IMDb
• The Man Without a Past at Box Office Mojo
• The Man Without a Past at the British Board of Film Classification
• The Man Without a Past at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}
• The Man Without a Past at Elonet (in Finnish)
• The Man Without a Past at Metacritic
• The Man Without a Past at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Man Without a Past at the Swedish Film Institute Database