As a film about perseverance and the strength of love being able to pull you through hard times the film absolutely succeeds with the central relationship being both bizarre and completely believable, compelling to the extent that you genuinely need them to succeed and heartwarming in their ability to stand by each other (read: Ilona's ability to stand by Lauri) even when one of them is acting a bit foolishly (read: even when Lauri is acting a bit foolishly). Reminds me of Jim Jarmusch.

A bit too self-aware to resonate on an emotional level; sure it's bleak and depressing and beautifully detached about it, but when the maudlin 1940s Hollywood strings come in, you genuinely wonder if you're meant to laugh or cry. Compound this with the inscrutably dry Finnish humor and you have yourself one confused little film.

When a lesser filmmaker attempts storytelling this simple, the result is banal, uneventful, boring. Kaurismäki creates an abnormally parsimonious, entirely straightforward, and yet consistently compelling and touching drama. We watch with fascination and worry as this couple gradually loses everything but their fighting spirit. Only a tinge of humor is insinuated, which is just perfect. Clouds is the first in the so-called "Finland trilogy" which rather harks back to his "Workers trilogy" films.

It's not a unique viewing experience and it's not something that I will compulsivly think of for the next few days, but other than that it's just perfect. And I really mean it. Both on the emotional level (Kati Outinen is awesome) and the aesthetic level (about 90% of the shots are beautiful, I can't think of much movies that so homogenously beautiful). Reminds me alot of Fassbinder's "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul". It's not very memorable or exciting, somehow.

I wasn't bowled over, but I liked it. You really want this couple to succeed, and the film never lets you know ahead of time how things are going to play out. Kati Outinen has a terrific face, which seems capable of conveying anything without ever changing from its blank expression.