Movies | Critics were mesmerized by Kaurismäki’s Dead Papers in the United States: “Perfect in tone”

Supervisor Aki Kaurismäki Dead leaves had its US premiere last Friday.

In its first weekend, it was shown in only two cinemas in New York, but reviews were already published in dozens of major media outlets.

Next week, the distribution will expand to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and the following week to several other major cities. The weekly expanding distribution is a typical release method in North America for art house dramas that gather audiences due to the jungle drum of reviews and viewers.

The critics have been mesmerized. New York Times review is the most important, and it is nothing short of glowing. Critic Manohla Dargis describes the work as fun, relatable and enjoyable all the time, and reflects on the fact that the aftertaste of Kaurismäki’s so-called bittersweet films is usually more sweet than bitter.

“Beautifully proportioned and perfect in tone,” Dargis writes.

“The best of these quiet and cool films tear the viewer to pieces. Dead leaves already feels like one of his signature works”, of New York Magazine critic Bilge Ebiri dismantle Kaurismäki’s career.

There are no gravel voices among the American critics. Several reviews ignore the appearance of the band Maustetytöt in the film. In dead leaves audible Born in sorrow and clothed in disappointment -song’s lyrics have been translated into English for the reviews.

About a few the juju of the big screen distribution, which starts from the theater and expands every week, includes both adjusting the extent of the distribution based on realized results and creating the phenomenon with scarcity, i.e. sold-out shows.

In the United States, the number of viewers is not counted, but the revenue from ticket sales. According to the Hollywood media To dead leaves tickets were sold over the weekend for a good $50,000, which would mean about four thousand spectators from two halls. It can be concluded that the most popular shows were packed.

The dollar result from ticket sales is the best premiere weekend of Kaurismäki’s career in the United States. Noste is completely different from Kaurismäki’s previous film I hope beyondwhich got a limited release in the US, but very good reviews.

The North American film market is the largest in the world, but Kaurismäki’s audience is largely in Europe. Oscar nominated Man without a past is the director’s most successful film, also in the United States. In 2003, it grossed around $920,000 in North America.

Dead Leaves, which won the jury prize in Cannes in May, will be on the award stage next time on December 9, when the European Film Academy awards are handed out in Berlin. Dead leaves and by Jonathan Glazer control The Zone of Interest received the most nominations, five each.

Dead leaves distributed in North America by Mubi, known especially as a streaming service. It is one of Mubi’s biggest investments on the big screen and is aiming for an Oscar nomination. Dead leaves has been chosen to represent Finland in the category of the best non-English language film.

The Oscar nominees for the category will be selected in January from the shortlist, which will be announced on December 21.

Variety and IndieWire list in their predictions Dead leaves among the fifteen finalists, i.e. on the shortlist. The jury of the Los Angeles Times raises the film to fourth place in the category.

Already based on the New York screenings Dead leaves has received support from well-known Americans.

“Wonderful, fun film”, director Paul Schrader raved about it on Sunday on Facebook.

Finland’s most watched domestic

Dead leaves became the most viewed domestic film of the year in Finland over the weekend. By Sunday night, 206,817 people had seen it in the cinema. To the premiere Dead leaves came in mid-September.

The second most watched movie of the year premiered in February Risto Räppääja and the wild machinewhich has approximately 205,000 viewers.

Dead leaves is the most watched film of Aki Kaurismäki’s career in Finland. From the past Man without a past (2002) received 176,000 viewers. Previous movie I hope beyond (2017) drew only 53,000 viewers.

Dead leaves has, among other things, also become the most watched film of all time at the Kino Tapiola cinema in Espoo, which specializes in quality films.

The most important country for Kaurismäki has traditionally been France, where his films have often received 4–5 times as many viewers as in Finland. Exceptionally popular in his home country Dead leaves has so far received 270,000 viewers in France.