Home > Films > 1981-1989

Aki Kaurismäki:

Mika Kaurismäki:

Jackpot 2 (1982)

Arvottomat (1982)

Klaani [The Clan) (1984)

Rosso (1985)

Andorra (1987)

Helsinki Napoli - All Night Long (1987)

Yötyö [Night Shift] (1988)

Cha Cha Cha (1989)

Paperitähti [Paper Star] (1989)

Aki and Mika Kaurismäki:

Saimaa-ilmiö [The Saimaa Gesture] (1981)

Helsinki Napoli - All Night Long

colour, dolby stereo, 94 mins.
Finnish premiere November 13, 1987
directed by Mika Kaurismäki
screenplay Mika Kaurismäki, Richard Reitinger from an original idea by Mika Kaurismäki and Christian Zertz
cinematography Helge Weindler, Eastmancolor
sound Paul Jyrälä
design Olaf Scheifner
edited by Helga Borsche
assistant director Gabi Mattner
music Jacques Zwart
production Mika Kaurismäki / Villealfa Filmproductions, Francis von Buren / Salinas Filmproduktion (Berlin)
cast
- Kari Väänänen (Alex)
- Roberta Manfredi (Stella)
- Jean-Pierre Castaldi (Igor)
- Margi Clarke (Mara)
- Nino Manfredi (Opa)
- Samuel Fuller (boss)
- Eddie Constantine (old gangster)
- Saku Kuosmanen (young gangster)
- Melanie Robeson (Lilli)
- Katharina Thalbach (co-worker)
- Harry Baer (first man)
- Gerd Jochum (second man)
- Wim Wenders (petrol station attendant)
- Werner Masten (barkeeper)
- Jim Jarmusch (barkeeper)
- Remo Remotti, Ugo Fagarezzi, Carlo Hafzalla (neapolitans)

Synopsis

After a longish introduction, two hoodlums with a briefcase of drug money board a taxi driven by Alex, a Finn working in Berlin. Gangsters chase the taxi and the two passengers die of the gangsters' bullets. Alex tries to dump the two bodies several times but with no success. Finally his Italian wife's drunken father steals the taxi and buries the bodies with concrete on the roof of the City Hall (an idiot plot, this is). The gangsters kidnap Alex' baby twins and demand their money back. After the exchange takes place, the gangsters are pushed in a canal in their car and the main characters sail away waving from the deck of a houseboat.

Comments

Berlin is supposed to be halfway between Helsinki and Napoli, and the main characters-one Finn and several Neapolitans-are halfway from home as well. So is the film, being noisy, overlong and tackled by the director's efforts to balance it between different genres. Too unwitty to be a comedy, too bland to be a thriller, too shallow to be a drama, Helsinki-Napoli tries to be all these but unfortunately falls somewhere inbetween.

Although set in Berlin, the film could have been filmed in almost any European city. The city itself is only a distant background, and about the only line of German in the film is heard from an old gentleman saying Guten Abend. Alex' long drives feel almost pointless due to this lack of a feeling of location. Interestingly, the film, made in 1987, could have been exceptional in being set in Berlin without referring to the Wall at all. However, the film incorporates a sequence where all the taxis of Berlin chase Samuel Fuller up to the tourist observation platform by the Wall at Potsdamer Platz. Alex then partly collapses the platform with a Soviet articulated lorry he bought for some of the drug money.

In the style of an "European international production", most of the dialog is English, spoken by Italians, a Finn, and the few German characters. The reminder is Italian used in a very stereotypic way, as Helsinki-Napoli repeatedly gives the picture of Italians being simpletons who talk without a pause and constantly bother where to get a bottle of wine.

Helsinki-Napoli prominently displays the skills of German stunt drivers who whiplash an old Opel Diplomat am Herzenslust between the columns supporting Berlin's elevated railway. The director has explained his fascination of car chases:

"C'était amusant du jouer avec toutes ces voitures et tous les personnages, et j'ai réalisé que je préférais en fait les acteurs aux voitures ... Je n'ai pas voulu filmer les poursuites de voitures de Helsinki Napoli a la manière américaine classique et je n'ai pas monté ces séquences pour en obtenir des effets traditionnels."
Cahiers du Cinema no 417, Mars 1989

Notes

There exists at least two versions of Helsinki-Napoli. One has end credits in red text and it is around three minutes longer than a re-edited version with end credits in yellow text. Their main differences are that in the shorter version a traffic accident sequence at Ernst-Reuter-Platz has been shortened and re-cut, and a long sequence featuring Alex talking to other taxi drivers and selling merchandise of dubious origin has been completely removed, as well as a scene of melancholy friendship between Alex and Igor.

Opel Diplomat, 1969 model

GM's European "mini-Cadillac", the Kapitän - Admiral - Diplomat range was Opel's largest saloon model in the late 60's. The Diplomat weighted 1690 kg, was powered by a 230 hp DIN 5.4-litre V8 and could reach a top speed of 205 kph (factory data).
In the film Alex drives a similar vehicle, oddly referred to as the sister model, Opel Admiral.

Our rating: Three