The Man Without a Past

Finland/2002/97 minutes/finnish

Written/ Produced/ Directed by         Aki Kaurismäki

Starring:Markku Peltola,Kati Outinen,Juhani Niemelä

Music by:Leevi Madetoja

Cinematography:Timo Salminen

Editing by        Timo Linnasalo

            The Man Without a Past (Finnish: Mies vailla menneisyyttä) is a 2002 Finnish comedy-drama film directed by Aki Kaurismäki and starring Markku Peltola, Kati Outinen and Juhani Niemelä. It is the second installment in Kaurismäki's Finland trilogy, the other two films being Drifting Clouds (1996) and Lights in the Dusk (2006). The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2002 and won the Grand Prix at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

The film begins with an unnamed man arriving by train to Helsinki. After falling asleep in Kaisaniemi park, he is mugged and beaten by hoodlums and is severely injured in the head, losing consciousness. He awakes and wanders back to the train station and collapses in its bathroom. He awakes the second time in a hospital and finds that he has lost his memory. He starts his life from scratch, living in container dwellings, finding clothes with help from the Salvation Army and making friends with the poor.