Ripa ruostuu (Ripa Hits the Skids)

The "school of Aki Kaurismäki" has reproduced here a terrific tale of sex, drugs and survival by the hand of first time filmmaker Christian Lindblad. With quite striking black and white photography Lindblad crafts an atmospheric and laidback trip of the eponymous Ripa, a would-be film director whose attempts to get work get him further into trouble (financial and otherwise), whilst giving him a permanent hangover and sex-insatiable girlfriends. Ripa narrates the story in a Raymond Chandler-like manner, and is surprisingly likable as the hero who rapidly falls out of life support systems. This is a tragicomic film with disarming touches which manages to touch you even if you think that people like Ripa don't live on earth, but on Mars.