Helsinki-Naples All Night Long

Helsinki-Napoli All Night Long A Worthwhile Effort by Mika Kaurismäki..., 8 August 2008 Alex is a Finnish cab driver living in Berlin with his wife Stella (originally from Naples), their two kids and Stella's Father. One night two French thugs with a briefcase full of stolen money hire Alex as their driver for the whole night. Unfortunately they're being chased by gangsters whose money was stolen. A few dead bodies, kidnapping and extortion follows. Helsinki Napoli All Night Long is the 6th feature by director Mika Kaurismäki — the brother of the somewhat famous Aki Kaurismäki— and his first of one shot entirely abroad. Most of Mika's subsequent films would be international productions that achieved moderate success, but none at the level of Aki's films. The film is successfully scripted by Kaurismäki and Richard Reitinger (one of the writers of Wings of Desire). This is a fun, light MacGuffin chase filled with witty Kaurismäki-style dialog and a similar structure as Scorsese's After Hours. Nothing revolutionary, but thoroughly entertaining. The aesthetic feel is another strong point. Shooting at nights for budgetary reasons, gives this the look of a neo-noir. The cast has surprisingly well-known figures. Directors Jim Jarmusch, Sam Fuller, Wim Wenders and actors Eddie Constantine (Alphaville) and Sakari Kuosmanen (The Man Without a Past) all do cameos and Italian veteran Nino Manfredi (We All Loved Each Other So Much) plays Stella's father. Kari Väänänen is a little wooden in the lead, but apart from that every actor gives a solid, charismatic, performance. Helsinki Napoli All Night Long is, alongside Rosso, a perfect introduction to Mika Kaurismäki. It's not his best films (that would be The Worthless), but it's definitely among his better ones and due to the international aspects (the film is mostly in English, with occasional Italian) it should be accessible to foreign audiences. If you want a fun international crime comedy and to explore Finnish directors this film will be worth checking out.

I stumbled across this film by chance in 1989. It was shown in the summer open-air theatre in a small village near Valencia (Spain), and I ventured into it without any reference about the film or his director. I was so amused by it that I came back the following night to watch it again! Since then, I'm desperately trying to see it again. No success though. I would love to buy it in VHS or DVD format. So this not only is praise to the movie, but an SOS message. Anyone out there knows where to avail oneself of a copy? Thanks.

Helsinki Napoli All Night Long is an okay foreign film, filled with random events and over-the-top buffoonery. The cliched story of finding a briefcase full of money and the owners of it after you, which we've all seen so many times. Done in an "After Hours" type way with a cab driver, but includes "Police Academy" level stuff too. The lead character played by Kari Vaananen does a fine job, but the secondary characters and performances aren't great. The gangsters in particular are all pretty bad. There are laughs, but it never takes itself seriously enough to captivate the viewer. Nor are there particularly memorable scenes for the type of film it is.

Quentin Taratino must have seen this bit of European Noir. It is unknown in North America (thank God for TVOntario). It follows a Finnish cab driver, with an Italian wife and and a Russian best friend, through a night in Berlin after he stumbles across a couple of corpses and a briefcase full of cash. It is high paced and giddy, and it has a bit of Scorsese's After Hours in it, and it does seem to be a predecessor of 90s noir.

Helsinki-Napoli All Night Long A Worthwhile Effort by Mika Kaurismäki..., 8 August 2008 Alex is a Finnish cab driver living in Berlin with his wife Stella (originally from Naples), their two kids and Stella's Father. One night two French thugs with a briefcase full of stolen money hire Alex as their driver for the whole night. Unfortunately they're being chased by gangsters whose money was stolen. A few dead bodies, kidnapping and extortion follows. Helsinki Napoli All Night Long is the 6th feature by director Mika Kaurismäki — the brother of the somewhat famous Aki Kaurismäki— and his first of one shot entirely abroad. Most of Mika's subsequent films would be international productions that achieved moderate success, but none at the level of Aki's films. The film is successfully scripted by Kaurismäki and Richard Reitinger (one of the writers of Wings of Desire). This is a fun, light MacGuffin chase filled with witty Kaurismäki-style dialog and a similar structure as Scorsese's After Hours. Nothing revolutionary, but thoroughly entertaining. The aesthetic feel is another strong point. Shooting at nights for budgetary reasons, gives this the look of a neo-noir. The cast has surprisingly well-known figures. Directors Jim Jarmusch, Sam Fuller, Wim Wenders and actors Eddie Constantine (Alphaville) and Sakari Kuosmanen (The Man Without a Past) all do cameos and Italian veteran Nino Manfredi (We All Loved Each Other So Much) plays Stella's father. Kari Väänänen is a little wooden in the lead, but apart from that every actor gives a solid, charismatic, performance. Helsinki Napoli All Night Long is, alongside Rosso, a perfect introduction to Mika Kaurismäki. It's not his best films (that would be The Worthless), but it's definitely among his better ones and due to the international aspects (the film is mostly in English, with occasional Italian) it should be accessible to foreign audiences. If you want a fun international crime comedy and to explore Finnish directors this film will be worth checking out.

Helsinki Napoli All Night Long is an okay foreign film, filled with random events and over-the-top buffoonery. The cliched story of finding a briefcase full of money and the owners of it after you, which we've all seen so many times. Done in an "After Hours" type way with a cab driver, but includes "Police Academy" level stuff too. The lead character played by Kari Vaananen does a fine job, but the secondary characters and performances aren't great. The gangsters in particular are all pretty bad. There are laughs, but it never takes itself seriously enough to captivate the viewer. Nor are there particularly memorable scenes for the type of film it is.