Introduction

It would be easy to stereotype Kaurismäki’s films as drily humorous dramas populated by taciturn underdogs, presented in a predictable style that recycles particular techniques and eschews others. (The former would include: a largely static camera, underplayed performance style, ironic tone, and a soundtrack comprised of early 1960s rock and roll along with Tchaikovsky or Shostakovich.) But this is too simplistic. His output is far from monolithic, and while it evinces important aesthetic and thematic continuities, it also dis-plays a sometimes startling range in both of these dimensions.