Young, inventive director who began receiving international recognition in the late 1980s. Kaurismaki's output has ranged from wacky, comic-book style adventures ("Calamari Union" 1985, "Leningrad Cowboys Go America" 1989) to revisionist adaptations of literary classics ("Crime and Punishment" 1983, "Hamlet Goes Business" 1987"), and he has proved himself adept at combining gritty, noir-ish realism with sly, sardonic humor ("Ariel" 1988). Kaurismaki's minimalist style, prolific output and taste for wry melodrama have invited comparisons with filmmakers such as R.W. Fassbinder and Jim Jarmusch.
With his brother Mika ("Rosso" 1985, "Helsinki Napoli All Night Long" 1988), and other directors including Pekka Parikka ("Plainlands" 1988, "The Winter War" 1989), Kaurismaki is at the forefront of a burgeoning new wave of Finnish cinema.
- Also Credited As:
Aki
- Born:
April 4, 1957 in Finland
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Job Titles:
Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Actor, Assistant director, Critic, Brick layer, Mailman
Family
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Brother: Mika Kaurismaki.
Milestones
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1980 First film as screenwriter (also actor), The Liar ; brother Mika s thesis film
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1981 Co-directed (with brother) the rock documentary The Saimaa Gesture (also the first Villealfa production)
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1983 Fiction feature directing and co-writing debut, Crime and Punishment
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1999 Helmed the black and white silent Juha
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2002 Directed the award-winning The Man Without a Past which he also wrote and produced; received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film
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2006 Wrote and directed Lights in the Dusk, the last part of Kaurismäki s Loser trilogy
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Co-founded Midnight Sun Film Festival in Sodankyla with brother
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Co-founded Villealfa Filmproductions with brother