After arriving in Helsinki by train, a man (Markku Peltola) falls asleep on a bench. Three hooligans rob him and savagely beat him up. At the hospital, he is pronounced dead. But it turns out he still has plenty of fight left in him. He walks out with the bandages still around his head. Two boys find this outsider by the riverbank. He is given shelter by their mother Kaisa (Kaija Pakarinen), who lives in a container shed along with her husband (Juhani Niemala), who works two nights a week and likes to drink. When the man regains consciousness, he has no memory of who he was or where he came from. Although his hosts have very little money, they let the amnesiac stay on with them until his wounds are healed.

The fellow eventually moves into another empty container and plants some potatoes. At an employment agency, he is treated like a criminal when he honestly admits the circumstances surrounding his lack of knowledge about who he really is. The harsh treatment the amnesiac receives from these people is diametrically opposed to the many kindnesses lavished on him by Kaisa and her family. He is attracted to Irma (Kati Outinen), a member of the Salvation Army. She gives him a job at a thrift store. The money he receives goes to the greedy security guard Anttila (Sakari Kuosmanen), who acts as his landlord. When he has to go away on business, this selfish fellow insists that the amnesiac look after his attack dog Hannibal. The animal, in fact, turns out to be a female and sweet as can be.

Writer and director Aki Kaurismaki (Leningrad Cowboys Go to America) has a knack for portraying the colorful and quaint lives of people whom most respectable members of society would find to be unworthy of any attention. He also has a delightful sense of humor and an abiding love of popular music, which he demonstrates by giving it a major role in his movies. Midway in this scruffy and endearing tale, Kaurismaki has the amnesiac invite the members of the Salvation Army band to his place to listen to some rock 'n' roll. He suggests they expand their repertoire with music that will draw more people to their religious messages. The result is just as he predicted with couples dancing in soup lines.

Then, just when his luck is changing and things are going well with Irma, the amnesiac is arrested. He's just a bystander at a bank robbery, but the police are suspicious since he has no papers. Irma sends him a lawyer who gets him released. Shortly afterwards, a breakthrough takes place that gives the amnesiac the answer to who he is and where he came from. The funky finale fits perfectly with all that has proceeded it.

Kaurismaki is a trickster spirit who loves the surprises that make all our feeble attempts to take charge of things into silly charades. Best to stay calm and cool with a heart that is always grateful for the simple pleasures that come our way.

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