Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana (1994) review

Mechanic Reino (Matti Pellonpää) and slicked-up seamster Valto (Mato Valtonen) decide to go out for a drive and they end up at a restaurant where they're approached by two ladies, Estonian Tatjana (Kati Outinen) and Russian Klavdia (Kirsi Tykkyläinen), who ask them to take them to the harbor, which they agree to ... and along the way Reino continuously chugs vodka, Valto guzzles coffee and none of them say much.  Even for Kaurismäki, whose films tend to be on the shortish side, this one-hour 'feature' is rather meager in terms of content, although it does cover a lot of the same themes and obsessions - such as human disconnect, alcoholism and a fascination with rock music - that he's been examining his entire career.  It may not be as darkly humorous as many of his better-known works, but it remains a cozy little road picture and, for Reino, a fruitful journey: the love of your life could just be waiting for a ride somewhere.