Drifting Clouds (film)
| Drifting Clouds | |
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Drifting Clouds DVD cover
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| Directed by | Aki Kaurismäki |
| Produced by | Aki Kaurismäki |
| Written by | Aki Kaurismäki |
| Starring |
Kati Outinen Kari Väänänen Markku Peltola |
| Music by | Timo Salminen |
| Cinematography | Timo Salminen |
| Edited by | Aki Kaurismäki |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
| Country | Finland |
| Language | Finnish |
| Budget | FIM 5,562,154 (approx. € 935,000)f |
Drifting Clouds (Finnish: Kauas pilvet karkaavat) is a 1996 Finnish film directed by Aki Kaurismäki and starring Kati Outinen, Kari Väänänen and Markku Peltola. The film is the first in Kaurismäki's Finland trilogy, the other 2 films being The Man Without a Past and Lights in the Dusk. The film was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 69th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Ilona Koponen (Kati Outinen), a head waitress at Dubrovnik restaurant, is married to Lauri (Kari Väänänen), a tram driver. The couple live in a small, modestly furnished apartment in Helsinki. As they both come home from work late one night, Lauri surprises Ilona with a new television which he purchased on store credit. There is a short discussion between the two regarding their ability to meet their financial obligations but they agree that the TV payments are manageable.
Next day, as Lauri gets to work, he learns that the company will be laying off several workers due to non-profitability of certain tram routes and he is randomly chosen as one of the workers to be laid off. The day after Lauri has finished working his last scheduled shift Ilona is informed by the owner of Dubrovnik that the restaurant is being sold to a chain restaurant company and all the employees will be let go since the new company will be bringing in its own employees.
Both of them set out looking for work immediately but with discouraging results. Lauri gets offered a job as a bus driver but is unable to pass the medical exam and subsequently loses his professional driver's licence. Ilona gets a job at a rundown bar/restaurant which doesn't even have a name and is owned by a tax evading crook. After 6 weeks of working there, the restaurant gets shut down by the state and Ilona does not get paid by the dishonest owner.
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Wikipedia