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I Hired a Contract Killer
1990 80 min Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom 12+
★7.1
Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Director: Aki Kaurismäki
🎭 Based on
«Tribulations of a Chinaman in China»
byJules Verne
Trailers
Description
After losing his job and realizing that he is alone in the world, a businessman opts to voluntarily end his life. Lacking courage, he hires a contract killer to do the job. Then, while awaiting his demise, he meets a woman and promptly falls in love.
Starring
Jean-Pierre Léaud
Actor
Margi Clarke
Actor
Kenneth Colley
Actor
Awards
1 win & 3 nominations
Key opinion
Aki Kaurismäki's dark, melancholic comedy captures the alienation of a redundant office worker through his signature deadpan aesthetic. While some viewers praise its inventive premise and emotional resonance, others find the deliberate pacing divisive, debating whether the film's slow rhythm enhances or hinders the experience.
| Acting | Jean-Pierre Léaud delivers a deeply vulnerable and tragic performance that serves as the film's emotional anchor. | |
| Cinematography | The cinematography effectively utilizes striking angles, grotesque close-ups, and a stark, drab visual palette to mirror the protagonist's isolation. | |
| Score | The blues-inflected soundtrack perfectly complements the film's melancholic and somber atmosphere. | |
| Humor | The off-beat, deadpan humor is successful for some, though it relies on a specific tone that may not land for everyone. | |
| Pacing | The deliberate, slow-burn pacing is praised by some as meditative and authentic to the story, while others find it creates a sense of excessive length. |