‘The Other Side of Hope,’ a tale of an unlikely friendship
The deadpan irony and seemingly dispassionate air of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s movies certainly aren’t for everyone, but they are a taste worth acquiring. His latest, “The Other Side of Hope,” expands his usual mordant vision of his homeland with a compelling look at Finland’s immigration issue.
The film tells two stories that eventually intersect. Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) is a disaffected middle-aged salesman who abruptly leaves his wife, wins a pile of money in an illicit poker game and buys a comically shabby restaurant called the Golden Pint, which employs a small crew of misfits.
Khaled (Sherwan Haji) is a young Syrian who has arrived in Helsinki hiding in the coal bin of a ship.