German-Finnish drama / romance by the director Aki Kaurismäki, continuation of his Proletariat series, which was originally planned as a trilogy and already includes Shadows in Paradise (1986), Ariel (1988), and The Match Factory Girl (1990).
With simple stories in a stylized Helsinki that seems to be stopped at the end of the 80´s on purpose (although your hear on the radio about the current Russia and Ukraine War, and see a 2024 calendar) it tells about the love story in simple lines of melancholy about two workers, a construction area man and a woman that worked on supermarkets and factories. Think of a Finnish Wes Anderson.
The lines of the story are simple as the concept, of a couple that have some mismatches around the way till the final encounter, but this simpliness, slow-paced sweetness in the context of the depression and melancholy of the lives and city is what colours the film in the end. Contributing to this sweetness it includes the changes on each other character along the movie in simple steps.
The movie premiered on 76th Cannes Film Festival, and was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in its main competition section, where it won the Jury Prize and will be the contender for the 96th Academy award for best international movie.
Knowing what to expect of the movie I gave him a 7,6 out of 10,0 score, or a B+ as I always prefer more complex stories.