Aki Kaurismaki Interviewed

Had John Steinbeck made movies instead of novels, they would have been a lot like Kaurismaki's movies. Working off a small budget is a great way to make a film about losers and Kaurismaki nails it every time. His films expertly balance dark humour with deeply felt compassion and genuine awareness of human virtue. Speaking with few words, purpose and precision, they resonate with men's loneliest longings. They remind me of words afterwards placed in the mouth of St Vincent de Paul, "If you do not love these, whom God created with love, how can you say you love God?" Like Kaurismaki, St Vincent was speaking of the poor and downtrodden, whose lives were spent eking out survival in alleys and on streets. Kaurismaki also shows what real talent can achieve. He produces his film in the fullest sense: conceives the original idea, raises the money, writes the storybook and script, hires the actors, directs them, edits the footage and releases the film.... himself. He is beholden only to his own idea. His films therefore are Art in the truest sense.