***/**** (3.5 stars)
The interweaving story of two men who are suffering their own hardships - Khaled who has fled Syria to Finland in search of a better life, and divorced gambler Wilkstrom.
It is quite possible that Finnish humour may be even more bizarre than British. At least, that is what I have come to conclude after watching The Other Side of Hope. Interweaving moments of genuine tragedy with frankly quite odd instances, Aki Kaurismaki's latest film combines the timely story of Khaled's (Sherwan Haji) flight from war and struggle for acceptance with Wilkstrom's (Sakari Kuosmanen) failing marriage and equally unfulfilling shirt business. It is certainly a strange set up, and it becomes even more unusual when you realise that these two characters aren't actually going to meet until very late in the film.
I was trying to work out what part of the film I found most peculiar, but couldn't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was the delivery of the dialogue? At times the speech and interactions between characters sounded as jilted and unnatural as a school play, whilst in other instances it felt genuinely organic. Maybe it was the strange close-ups on actor's faces at unusual moments? During conversations, you rarely saw both speakers, but just a frame of one character's face at a time, which felt most odd. Perhaps the bizarre musical interludes of folk bands playing melancholy tunes was what threw me? It is something I have thought about since leaving the cinema.
For all the oddness, however, I cannot deny that I was moved by it. Haji is excellent as Khaled, with an extremely open and innocent face shining out from the centre of each frame he is in. His plight is one that we recognise from news channels and newspapers and yet Haji manages to bring an undeniably high-impact edge to his performance, without ever once raising his voice. There are also some moments of genuine comedy, from the appearance of an ugly dog to Wilkstrom's decision to dabble in the sushi business. All this combined, however, makes for a heartfelt yet ultimately uneven film, peppered with alienating Finnish melodies played by washed up rock 'n' roll singers.
Bizarre yet no without heart warming moments, The Other Side of Hope is a timely film with an important message - it just seems to get confused on the way to telling it. Undoubtedly alienating in its oddness, it is nonetheless a very human tale of the search for something better when all is apparently without joy.
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