Aki Kaurismaki is a remarkable, complex auteur too often overlooked in Anglophone scholarship, and this vibrant new collection of essays seeks to redress that misfortune as well as fill in the gaps of extant work on the Finnish master. The book breaks new ground by closely connecting Kaurismaki's aesthetics—his distinctive mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, and sound design (particularly with music)—to the much discussed, left-wing populist political messaging in his films. The editor, Thomas Austin, has curated a group of essays that dialogue with one another in refreshing ways while each scholar builds a unique and cogent position, illuminating diverse aspects of Kaurismaki's oeuvre; from his use of Brechtian distanciation, irony, and anachronism, to his ambivalent treatment of global capitalism and even the working classes he celebrates.
