Shadows in Paradise

Original title: Varjoja paratiisissa

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Kati Outinen in Shadows in Paradise (1986)

An episode in the life of Nikander, a garbage man, involving the death of a coworker, a love affair and much more.An episode in the life of Nikander, a garbage man, involving the death of a coworker, a love affair and much more.An episode in the life of Nikander, a garbage man, involving the death of a coworker, a love affair and much more.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

7.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win total

Photos24

+ 18

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Towards the end, there's a scene where Nikander's friend talks about a problematic fellow worker named Mikkonen. Matti Pellonpää, who plays Nikander here, would later play Mikkonen in Ariel (1988), the second part of the Proletariat trilogy directed by Aki Kaurismäki.

Goofs
When Nikander and Ilona leave the gas station and ride down the road, they pass a white car. The white car is standing still in the middle of the road. Presumably they drove so fast that they passed the white car, but it stands still.

Quotes
Nikander: Remember that chick from the supermarket? Guess where she is now?
Melartin: Where?
Nikander: Sleeping in my bed.
Melartin: Get back there then.
Nikander: I can't.
Melartin: What's keeping you?
Nikander: Horror, fear and this job.

Connections
Featured in Century of Cinema: Scandinavie, Stig Björkman (1995)

Soundtracks
Herbstlaub
Written by Klaus Treuheit
Performed by Klaus Treuheit

User reviews27

Featured review

6/10

an acquired taste, but worth a look

A simpleminded garbage man and a misanthropic supermarket checkout girl find the road to romance paved with ennui in yet another of Aki Kaurismäki's patented minimal mini-dramas. The prolific Finnish director pares down the love story to its most basic components: a man, a woman, and a mood of urban alienation shaded in tones of European gray. The film is entirely negligible, but that's (presumably) all part of its charm, and what passes for a plot is merely an excuse for Kaurismäki's deadpan comic ironies. It's easy to watch and even easier to ignore, looking like a rough sketch for a minor work by a filmmaker poised for bigger things.