Calamari Union (Aki Kaurismaki) | Digital Cinematography
Considering the cinematography of Aki Kaurismaki's movie "Calamari Union", samples of mise-en-scene, texture, venue and costume designs were taken over certain scenes and a cinemetographic design was created for an adaptation/remake shot in Istanbul. Venues suitable for the texture of the film were searched in Karaköy and Kadıköy, and clothes suitable for the characters were selected.
One of Aki Kaurismaki's early attempts at avant-garde and experimental cinema, this strange film is about 14 people named Frank, who smuggled a subway to get to the legendary Eira from Kallio in Helsinki where mostly workers lived. Their goal is to reach Eira, a symbolically peaceful and perfect coastal city that they heard from their ancestors. Except for Pekka, all of the characters in the movie are named Frank. Along the way they strive to reach Eira, with an existence with no identity, in strange circumstances they occasionally cross paths and sometimes they split off. They all try to get to Eira by different routes, in the process some of them form bands and make rock and roll music, the two get shot, one commits suicide, the other starts a business and goes bankrupt, each choosing different paths. In the end, only two Franks manage to reach the sea, and when they do, they realize that the water is full of dead fish and that they have missed the ship they were talking about, an old boat somehow becomes the source of dispute and the movie ends as they row towards Estonia. An Eira that can't be reached is like Godot that never comes. Director, producer and screenwriter Kaurismaki's terribly eccentric sense of humor combines with absurd and anarchist characters to deliver a narrative full of social observation and satire. The anarchist children of Calamari Union, the film of rebellion and defeat, trying again and being defeated better, with their sunglasses they never take off, the cigarettes that they never drop, their long coats and all the carelessness on their faces, they get involved in all kinds of adventures day and night for a better life and rebel against the conditions and the system they are in. Just like the rebellion they voice in their songs, we feel these wicked children's determination that they will not be anyone's toys and that they are making fun of life. Maybe one day I will go to Eira, but would I enjoy it if I did?
