Matti Pellonpää – The Deliciously Subtle Ironist | The Great Acting Blog

Matti Pellonpää with Kati Outinen in Aki Kaurismaki’s Take Care Of Your Scarf Tatiana.

Matti Pellonpää is most closely associated with the filmmaking brothers Kaurismaki, Aki and Mika, acting in eighteen of their pictures. Some even said he was Aki’s on-screen alter-ego. He lived a  bohemian lifestyle – Mika Kaurismaki tells the story of how, whenever he arrived at his production office in the morning, his first task was always to move a sleeping Pellonpää on to the sofa because he often crashed there after a night of reverie.

The distinguishing feature of his work for me, is his deliciously subtle sense of irony, which blends very naturally with the cine-worlds created by the Kaurismakis, especially Aki. It would be through a gentle glint in his eye, or a sly pause, that he would let only the keenest observers know that he was only joking (or half-joking).

Matti Pellonapää offered us a different kind of acting, and a different kind of screen persona. His performances are devoid of bombast or flashy technique or self-promotion, and he offered not only quiet humour, but also warmth, generosity, playfulness and gentleness. I wish he could have lived longer than his 44 years and made more pictures for us to enjoy, but I am grateful for the ones we already have. Matti Pellonapää, through his work, offers us true connection, warming us as does a log fire when it’s snowing outside.

If I had to recommend one film of Pellonpää’s, it would have to be Take Care Of Your Scarf, Tatiana. It’s not only a fabulous film in it’s own right, an absurd black and white road movie/minimal romantic comedy, but it is perhaps the clearest example of Pellonpää’s deliciously subtle irony.

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