Hold Your Scarf, Tatjana

The heroes of this unusual comedic road movie are typical Kaurismäki outsiders, bearing the marks of rough "buranness" and influences from both East and West. Tailor Valto gets angry at home because the coffee has run out, furiously locks his mother in a closet, takes money from her purse, and leaves. He stops by mechanic Reino, who is repairing his black Volga - and together they set off across Finland. Against their will, they pick up two women heading to their native Soviet Union.

Language barriers and innate shyness allow almost no communication. Moments of understanding happen without words and are barely noticeable. Kaurismäki reduces his characters to a few basic traits - one constantly drinks vodka, the other coffee, one wears a suit, the other a leather jacket and bell-bottoms - yet the result is not caricature but a tragicomic portrait of an era.

The director's regular actors deserve credit for this. The role of mechanic Reino became one of the last for Matti Pellonpää, who died prematurely.