--- title: "Ariel" year: 1988 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/ariel" fi1m_id: "ariel" imdb_id: "tt0094675" tmdb_id: 2 wikidata_id: "Q658627" fi1m_score: 80 critics_score: 73 critics_reviews: 4 published: "2026-09-26T01:47:22.707511+00:00" updated: "2026-09-26T01:47:23.027416+00:00" region: "CA" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Ariel (1988) Directed by Aki Kaurismäki · 1h 13m · Drama, Romance, Crime ## Identity Ariel - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/ariel - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** ariel - **IMDb ID:** tt0094675 - **TMDB ID:** 2 - **Wikidata ID:** Q658627 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094675/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/2, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q658627 **Fi1m score: 80** · Critics 73 (early) from 4 reviews *In a sentence:* A convertible with no roof, a winter with no end, and a hero who takes both the way you take the weather > Aki Kaurismäki follows a sacked miner south in a roofless Cadillac and is finished in 73 minutes. It is dry, plain and unexpectedly tender, and we would send almost anyone to it with one warning: its people show nothing, and you must meet them halfway. ## Synopsis Northern Finland, in winter. The mine where Taisto Kasurinen (Turo Pajala) works is closed, and the men are told over a loudspeaker to collect their pay. His father, a fellow miner (Erkki Pajala), sits him down in a café, hands him the keys to a white Cadillac convertible whose roof will not go up, tells him to try the south, and excuses himself to the lavatory. Taisto drives to Helsinki in an open car with his savings in his jacket. Soon after arriving he is robbed at knifepoint by a mugger (Matti Jaaranen) and left with the car and nothing else. He takes casual work at the harbour, sleeps in a night hostel, and is fined for parking by Irmeli Pihlaja (Susanna Haavisto), a traffic warden with a small son, Riku (Eetu Hilkamo). He asks her out. She agrees, without visible enthusiasm. ## Review Aki Kaurismäki’s *Ariel* begins with a mine closing in northern Finland and is over in 73 minutes, and it does not waste one of them. It is a film about Finns at the bottom of the pay scale who say little and are let down a great deal, and it is a good place to start with Kaurismäki. We would send almost anyone to it, with one warning we will come to. Taisto Kasurinen (Turo Pajala) is told over a loudspeaker that the mine has shut. His father (Erkki Pajala) sits him down in a café, hands him the keys to a white Cadillac convertible, tells him to head south, and excuses himself to the lavatory, from which he does not return. The Cadillac’s roof will not go up, so Taisto drives the length of the country with snow on the seats, wearing the jacket he will wear for the rest of the film. We laughed at the roof, and we laughed at the father’s exit, which is staged as a man stepping out for a moment, and then we felt ashamed of ourselves. We suspect that is the intended order. In Helsinki he is robbed of everything but the car by a mugger (Matti Jaaranen), takes casual work at the harbour, and is fined for parking by Irmeli Pihlaja (Susanna Haavisto), a traffic warden with a small son, Riku (Eetu Hilkamo). Their courtship takes about four lines of dialogue. He asks; she says yes; nobody smiles. It moved us far more than we were braced for, because Kaurismäki has cut away every gesture actors normally use to signal love, and what is left, two tired people deciding to try, is enough. Hilkamo plays the boy as a small, unimpressed adult, and he is funny. Pajala has a long face that does almost nothing, and the film is built on it. He takes the sack, the robbery and the weather with the same faint nod, and by the half-hour mark that nod has become expressive; you can read a whole day’s disappointment in how slowly it arrives. Haavisto matches him. Matti Pellonpää, as Mikkonen, a man Taisto meets once his luck has properly gone, gives him a courtesy so weary it is almost tender. Timo Salminen shoots it in hard, flat colour: grey streets, brown rooms, and then one red jacket or one blue door that carries the whole frame. He keeps the camera still and lets people walk into the shot and out of it, so that the empty room they leave behind is part of the scene. Risto Karhula furnishes rooms with a table, a bed and a radio and no more, and Tuula Hilkamo dresses everybody as if they own one outfit, which they do. Raija Talvio cuts each scene a beat before another editor would let it start, so that we are always arriving after the decision has been taken. The music is credited to Olavi Virta, Taisto Tammi and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, among others, and it is warmer than any face on screen. The warning. Kaurismäki’s people show almost nothing, and if you need a face to tell you what to feel you will find this cold and possibly smug. It is neither, but it does ask something of you. The crime plot that takes over in the second half is also thinner than the first half deserves. It is handled with a shrug, the way everything is handled, and a shrug is a less interesting response to a gun than to a parking ticket. There is a stretch of perhaps ten minutes where the deadpan runs on its own momentum. Then it recovers, and the last movement is among the most quietly hopeful things Kaurismäki has made, in a way we will not describe. See it in a cinema if one is showing it, where the long stares have room. At home, keep your phone in another room. It does not repeat itself, and at 73 minutes there is nothing to skip. *Fi1m score 80, published 26 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Ariel worth watching?** *Ariel* is worth watching for almost anyone who can meet a film halfway, and we scored it 80. Kaurismäki's sacked miner drives a roofless Cadillac south and is finished in 73 minutes that are dry, plain and unexpectedly tender. Its people show nothing on their faces, and if you need to be told what to feel you will find it cold. **How long is Ariel, and what is it rated?** *Ariel* runs 1h 13m. It is a drama and romance film. **Where can I watch Ariel in Canada?** *Ariel* is not on any streaming or rental service in Canada at the moment. It is available in 6 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Ariel, and is it suitable for children?** *Ariel* carries a UK 15 certificate and is a low-key drama rather than a frightening one. There is a mugging at knifepoint early on and a thinner crime plot in the second half, all of it handled with a shrug rather than dwelt on. It is not for young children, less because of what is shown than because its long silent stares ask for a patience they will not have. **How does Ariel compare to Stranger Than Paradise?** *Ariel* is the warmer and tighter of the two, and [*Stranger Than Paradise*](https://film.one/film/stranger-than-paradise) is the funnier. Both are deadpan road films about drifters who say little, but Kaurismäki gives his miner a courtship and a quiet hope, while Jarmusch's determined cool keeps his people at a distance. Start with Kaurismäki if you want to be moved, Jarmusch if you want to laugh. **What should I watch after Ariel?** After *Ariel*, try [*Stranger Than Paradise*](https://film.one/film/stranger-than-paradise) (1984, Fi1m 82): Jarmusch’s deadpan road film about drifters, the closest American cousin to Kaurismäki. Then [*Pickpocket*](https://film.one/film/pickpocket) (1959, Fi1m 84): Bresson’s blank-faced thief and the stillness Kaurismäki learned from. ### Reviews we read (4) - **Empire**, Robyn Karney (75/100, inferred): Karney recommends the film as interesting, entertaining and absorbing. She praises Kaurismäki’s cool, well-paced direction and tightly constructed storytelling. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/ariel-review/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kevin Thomas (75/100, inferred): Thomas praises Ariel as one of Kaurismäki’s best, finding dark humor and meaning in its spare portrayal of marginal lives. He singles out the film’s beautiful imagery and bleakly impersonal settings. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-07-ca-3800-story.html) - **Time Out**, TCh (64/100, inferred): The available page identifies this as a review but reveals no critical verdict. No praise or complaint is available in the accessible text. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/ariel) - **Eye for Film**, Anton Bitel (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film compelling, funny, and ultimately romantic despite its grim subject matter. They praise its beautifully shot minimalist style and the lively plot it conceals. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/ariel-film-review-by-anton-bitel) ## Details - **Director:** Aki Kaurismäki - **Director:** Aki Kaurismäki - **Writer:** Aki Kaurismäki - **Cinematography:** Timo Salminen - **Editor:** Raija Talvio - **Music:** Taisto Tammi, Olavi Virta, Rauli Somerjoki, Melrose, Bill Casey, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - **Production design:** Risto Karhula - **Costume design:** Tuula Hilkamo - **Producer:** Aki Kaurismäki - **Cast:** Turo Pajala as Taisto Kasurinen; Susanna Haavisto as Irmeli Pihlaja; Matti Pellonpää as Mikkonen; Eetu Hilkamo as Riku; Erkki Pajala as Miner; Matti Jaaranen as Mugger; Vinski Viholainen as Accomplice; Jorma Markkula as Tallyman - **Runtime:** 1h 13m - **Release (Canada):** 15 September 1989 - **Genres:** Drama, Romance, Crime ## Where to watch in Canada Not streaming, renting or buying in Canada at the last check. Also available in: DK, FI, FR, GB, NO, SE. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Match Factory Girl* (1990): Kaurismäki two years later, colder and even shorter, with a heroine who acts - *Stranger Than Paradise* (1984), Fi1m 82: Jarmusch’s deadpan road film about drifters, the closest American cousin to Kaurismäki — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/stranger-than-paradise.md) - *Pickpocket* (1959), Fi1m 84: Bresson’s blank-faced thief and the stillness Kaurismäki learned from — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/pickpocket.md) - *They Live by Night* (1948): Nicholas Ray’s lovers on the run, tender and doomed and beautifully lit - *Songs from the Second Floor* (2000): Roy Andersson’s fixed-camera Swedish misery, funnier and stranger than it sounds --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/ariel