Drifting Clouds

1996 1h 37m FI

🙌

7.6

BANGER

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.6

IMDB

★7.6TMDB · 218🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes★7.6IMDB · 9,531

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The ever-poker-faced Ilona loses her job as a restaurant hostess, as her tram driver husband, Lauri, also finds himself out of work. Together they must hit the streets of Helsinki, facing up to hardship and humiliation in their quest for survival, guided through the gloom by a ray of hope.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Kati Outinen
Ilona
Kari Väänänen
Lauri
Elina Salo
Mrs. Sjöholm
Sakari Kuosmanen
Melartin
Markku Peltola
Lajunen
Matti Onnismaa
Forsström
Shelley Fisher
Pianist
Markus Allan
Orchestra Member

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Aki Kaurismäki
Writers: Aki Kaurismäki
Languages: Finnish, Swedish
Countries: Finland, France, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

30 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Finnish, Swedish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Finland, France, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Aki Kaurismäki, shot by Timo Salminen. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Shelley Fisher. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Aki Kaurismäki shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kati Outinen and Kari Väänänen and Elina Salo carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0116752 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Aki Kaurismäki directs. Timo Salminen behind the camera. Shelley Fisher scores. Aki Kaurismäki cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Finland, France, Germany. Dialogue in Finnish, Swedish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

130 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Finnish, Swedish.
3International production across 3 countries: Finland, France, Germany.
4Directed by Aki Kaurismäki, shot by Timo Salminen. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Shelley Fisher. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Aki Kaurismäki shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Kati Outinen and Kari Väänänen and Elina Salo carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0116752 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Timo Salminen
Original score: Shelley Fisher
Editing: Aki Kaurismäki
Production design: Markku Pätilä
Costume design: Tuula Hilkamo
Sound: Tom Forsström
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: FI
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Drifting Clouds (1996)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.6/10 · 9,531 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

10 wins & 2 nominations

Jussi Award for Best Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Aki Kaurismäki

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CRCulver2018-08-14
★ 6/10
The Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki has made several films about the "little people" in society, hardworking folk who have a spot of bad luck and risk being overlooked by the state bureaucracy and business development schemes that are ostensibly there to help them. KAUAS PILVET KARKAAVAT from 1996 (released as "Drifting Clouds" in English-speaking markets) is one such tale of adversity. Ilona (Kati Outinen) and Lauri (Kari Väänänen) are a happy married couple. One day, Lauri loses his job as a tram driver when the cancellation of some routes makes him redundant. Soon after this Ilona, head water of a fancy restaurant, finds the restaurant bought out by new owners who don't need the old staff. We see Lauri and Ilona turned down from one job after another, facing repo men and shady characters taking advantage of their desperation for work, yet in many respects the film is a comedy. Kaurismäki's humour is extremely deadpan, at some points perhaps too subtle for audiences outside Finland, but it's still generally fun and there are some laugh-out-loud moments. The film has a strong magical realist feel. Part of this is that the film is ostensibly set during the present day, but the characters and many of the interior sets seem to have stepped out of the 1950s. This is a key feature of Kaurismäki's aesthetic and found throughout his work. But also Ilona and Lauri's insistence on making it on their own, without accepting unemployment money from the state, is plausible but somehow not the expected course of events in 1990s Finland. Kaurismäki was to emphasize distrust of the welfare state in his later film MIES VAILLA MENESYYTTA (Man Without a Past), but there he was too heavy-handed in his criticism, while here there's more a tone of quiet nobility than bitterness. While the happy ending is too much of a deus ex machina, I greatly enjoyed KAUAS PILVET KARKAAVAT. What really drives the film is the quirky face of Kati Outinen, who in spite of all her defeats rolls with the punches and whose eyes maintain boundless optimism, like an adorable stray puppy. Kaurismäki demands deadpan acting, and Outinen has always acted in his films with a deliberately limited range of expression, but one really appreciates how she discovers subtle degrees of deadpanness: her Ilona is vastly different than, say, her role in Kaurismäki's VARJOJA PARATIIISISSA of a few years before. The performance by Markku Peltola as a drunken cook is also memorable. Finally, the film's colour palette is striking, showing a new maturity in design from the already veteran director.

Production companies