Hamlet Goes Business (Hamlet Liikemaailmassa) Finland, 1987

Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki tries to come up with an adaptation to the original Hamlet written by Shakespeare. This version is adapted to modern times, greedy, whimsical and absurd at times. Kaurismäki is well known for portraying people in despair, depressed and alone. In this film, Hamlet's family owns many different industries. The most profitable is the factory of rubber ducks from Sweden. The story is a satire on greed, corporate materialism and corruption. Shot in black and white, the drastic light contrasts are well executed. Kaurismäki's characters are expressionless, they convey no physical gestures or emotions, with cold emotionless dialogues. This does not mean the film is boring, on the contrary; this gives the film an absurd and comical tone. About his films, Kaurismäkis says: "In Finland no one recognizes me as a director because my films are so true to the real world of the Finnish people, that they have no interest in watching them. However, the European public has rescued me. When I try to make a tragedy, the public thinks it's a comedy, and viceversa"