Ariel

Taisto Kasurinen works in a mine in Finnish Lapland. When the mine closes and his father takes his own life, Taisto leaves with the car he has inherited and drives south to Helsinki hoping to find work. The money he carries is soon taken from him, and a series of encounters with criminals and police lands him in prison. There he meets the convict Mikkonen, and the two men escape. A woman named Irmeli, whom Taisto met in the city, is drawn into his attempts to build a life against the odds.

Aki Kaurismäki wrote, produced and directed the film, which followed his Shadows in Paradise from 1986 and came before The Match Factory Girl in 1990. Turo Pajala plays Taisto, with Susanna Haavisto as Irmeli and Matti Pellonpää as Mikkonen; thirty-nine cast members are credited. Running 73 minutes, it mixes comedy, crime, drama and romance within a Finnish setting.

On IMDb the film holds 7.4 out of 10 from about 9,700 votes, and on TMDB it stands at 7.1 from roughly 380 votes. The larger IMDb sample and the smaller TMDB sample point to a similar, generally favourable response from viewers. Released in October 1988, the film is part of the director's run of low-budget Finnish productions through Villealfa Filmproductions.