The Man Without a Past: Slight return [DVD note]

Written and directed by Aki Kaurismäki

When life turns to shit, why don't we just turn off our lives, jump cities, and start over? Kaurismäki posits that the root reason is memory: in that we recall times when loved ones were genuinely loved, but also in that our past behaviour acts as a physical memory, preventing us from changing our ways. This is an amnesia movie, only the amnesiac (Markku Peltola, pictured as a Man Without a Pabst) benefits from his ailment. There isn't any other heavy thinking in the picture: the first half depicts the protagonist's new life as a bum, the second sentimentalises down-and-outs of all kinds. It's a feel good movie, but I have nothing against feeling good.
A MINUS