I Hired a Contract Killer

Henri Boulanger wants to die. Since his helpless attempts to end his days go down te drain he ends up hiring a contract killer. While waiting for the killer to do his job, however, he makes the mistake of sipping, for the first time in is life, a whiskey, and finds the courage to encounter the opposite sex, also for the first time. But there is no time for regrets. The killer's contract can not be cancelled.

Comment:
Aki Kaurismäki portrays a decaying London in Thatchers England with the camera of Robert Bresson. The similarity between Aki's first foreign film and the Finland Triology is remarkable. What one thought was Finland is actually Kaurismäki Country.
The striking choice of colours mirror the nostalgia in the movie; a great love for that which has been. Serge Reggiani stands for the French film noir of the 40's, Léaud the new wave, and Joe Strummer for a musical climate that no longer exists.
The film never submits to logic in either acting or plot. That the links between the sequences are reduced to the point of breakdown, gives the film an unpretentious and naive character. The stylised acting and film language becomes a consequence of the plot's attractive lightness.

TL

Medverkande
Jean-Pierre Léaud, Margi Clarke, Kenneth Colley, Trevor Bowen, Joe Strummer, Nicky Tesco: Producent
Aki Kaurismäki: Manus
Aki Kaurismäki: Foto
Timo Salminen: Talat språk
English