Varjoja paratiisissa / Shadows in Paradise / Schatten im Paradies

Love takes a circuitous route in 1980s Helsinki. Ilona works as a supermarket cashier, Nikander at the rubbish collection centre. It takes several tries for these two people, who have settled into their solitude, to find each other. $Shadows in Paradise% was the first collaboration between Kati Outinen and Aki Kaurismäki. Even before making Outinen an offer, the director informed the press that she would be the lead actress in his next film. And following a brief phone conversation, she agreed. Likewise, Ilona and Nikander are not excessive talkers. She notes that his hand is bleeding ($It needs a plaster%) in the same stern tone with which she announces the amount due for his purchases. In the next scene, we see her smoking outside the supermarket while tending to the wound. Her red work coat and his blue overalls set them apart from the dreary grey of their surroundings. We sense that two lonely souls have found each other – they just aren't yet aware that they're happy.