Kari Väänänen
Kari Kyösti Väänänen (born 17 September 1953 in Ivalo) is a Finnish actor and director. Domestically he is a member of the Ryhmäteatteri group of actors. He was introduced to international audiences by Aki Kaurismäki; and belongs to the list of his "trusted" stable of actors.
His most challenging role has been the eponymous mafia hitman of Rosso, for which he learned all his lines phonetically, without previously speaking a word of Italian. Kari Väänänen was featured in Star Wreck, a Finnish sci-fi parody where he played the Russian president. He also starred in Jim Jarmusch's 1991 film Night on Earth.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 2.752 |
| Birthday | 1953-09-17 |
| Place of Birth | Ivalo, Finland |
| Also Known As | Kari Kyösti Väänänen, Teddy-Boy Dalton, Karl Vaananen, Kari Vaananen, |
2009
Backwood Philosopher
5.929/14
Self-taught philosopher Konsta Pylkkänen guides a group of researchers through Finland's Kainuu wilderness in the hopes of having a "sinistä ajatusta"...
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Backwood Philosopher
1991
Night on Earth
7.526/881
An anthology of 5 different cab drivers in 5 American and European cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.
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Night on Earth
1997
Underwater Iceland
5.5/2
Marko Röhr's film crew takes the viewer to Europe's last unexplored area: Iceland's unique underwater world. We explore the geysers of boiling waters...
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Underwater Iceland
1983
Apinan vuosi
7/1
A young student seeks direction in his life to counterbalance the studies through female adventures.
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Apinan vuosi
1989
Leningrad Cowboys Go America
6.9/169
The Leningrad Cowboys, a group of Siberian musicians, and their manager, travel to America seeking fame and fortune. As they cross the country, trying...
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Leningrad Cowboys Go America
1996
Drifting Clouds
7.548/165
The ever-poker-faced Ilona loses her job as a restaurant hostess, as her tram driver husband, Lauri, also finds himself out of work. Together they mus...
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Drifting Clouds
1987
Hamlet Goes Business
6.6/43
When Hamlet discovers his father’s deceased body, he finds himself pulled into a power struggle as his scheming uncle attempts to secure a monopoly on...
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Hamlet Goes Business
2024
The Missile
6.2/5
Christmas is-a-jingling to Lapland in 1984. Niina, a single mother, is fired from her job in a bakery and drifts into the middle of an international m...
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The Missile
1992
La Vie de Bohème
7.5/131
Three penniless artists become friends in modern-day Paris: Rodolfo, an Albanian painter with no visa, Marcel, a playwright and magazine editor with n...
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La Vie de Bohème
1985
The Unknown Soldier
6.971/35
Second silver screen adaption of the Finnish war book by Väinö Linna. The story is based on Linna's experiences as an infantry man in the Finnish army...
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The Unknown Soldier
2007
V2: Dead Angel
5.6/39
The tough Detective Vares, get hired by a friend accused of murdering a girl. His job is to find the real killer, but people aren't talking. Before he...
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V2: Dead Angel
1981
The Breakthrough
0/0
A student film.
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The Breakthrough
2005
Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning
6.664/67
Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning begins with Captain James B. Pirk of the starship Kickstart shipwrecked on the 21st century Earth with his crew. Origina...
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Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning
1984
The Clan: Tale of the Frogs
6.6/7
Young Alex Sammako has seen his brothers defy the law in a series of deeds that first land them in jail, and then, after they escape and return to the...
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The Clan: Tale of the Frogs
2017
Lapland Odyssey 3
5.406/16
In the third instalment of the franchise, Janne embarks on an epic hike, a journey of self-discovery. His dreams of a tranquil retreat into nature are...
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Lapland Odyssey 3
1987
Siriuksen vieraat
1/1
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Siriuksen vieraat
1999
Ambush
5.8/36
It is the summer of 1941 and the Finnish army has been mobilized along the border with Russia. A platoon led by Lt. Eero Perkola is waiting for orders...
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Ambush
2003
Land of Love
4.714/7
A comedy of a Finnish man who falls in love, gets tangled deeper into a circle of lies and finds out that he has suddenly changed his name, nationalit...
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Land of Love
2004
Honey Baby
6/9
An American, with a past as a successful musician, makes a living by playing at weddings and the likes in Germany. Then he gets an offer to tour in Ea...
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Honey Baby
2000
Highway Society
5.8/6
The mechanic Jack tries to get rid of his criminal background.
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Highway Society
1986
Näkemiin, hyvästi
6/1
When a new man appears in Tuula's life, Jorma does not tolerate the idea and begins to yearn back for his ex-wife. They drift into a situation where b...
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Näkemiin, hyvästi
2004
Trench Road
5.75/8
After his wife leaves him, a man becomes obsessed getting his family back together by buying an old house.
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Trench Road
1990
Amazon
5.1/11
Widowed and broke Finnish businessman Kari takes his two teenage daughters with him to Brazil. A bush pilot introduces him to the idea of gold mining...
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Amazon
1989
Dirty Hands
5.3/10
A political drama set in the fictional country of Illyria between 1943 and 1945, the story is about the assassination of a leading politician. The cou...
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Dirty Hands
2006
Rock'n Roll Never Dies
5.286/7
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Rock'n Roll Never Dies
1990
Dolly and Her Lover
5.8/4
Detective Karisto releases Auno 'Räpsy' Pirilä from prison, who in turn has to calve his childhood friend Börje from criminal activities. Alcoholic Do...
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Dolly and Her Lover
2000
Lakeuden kutsu
5.389/10
Businessman Erkki Hakala returns to Ostrobothnia after years in Florida and buys a metal workshop in Jalasjärvi from the unknown Partanen brothers wit...
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Lakeuden kutsu
1987
Helsinki Napoli All Night Long
5.7/9
Alex is a Finnish taxi driver in Berlin. One evening pits two men feel comfortable in his taxi with a briefcase full of money, but unfortunately for A...
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Helsinki Napoli All Night Long
1983
Jon
5.8/4
Story of Jari, a misfit and coward who, after hitting his girlfriend escapes to a fish factory in Norway. There he meets Heikki, who works for the sam...
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Jon
1986
Harmagedon
7/1
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Harmagedon
1993
Ripa Hits the Skids
5.8/8
A week-long glimpse into the wretched existence of Ripa, a long-haired, hard-drinking lug. He is also a filmmaker-wannabee, whose last two projects we...
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Ripa Hits the Skids
1982
Kuoleman hellä kosketus
1/1
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Kuoleman hellä kosketus
1996
Sambolico
3.5/2
A short directed by Mika Kaurismäki.
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Sambolico
1998
Train Birds
5.917/18
Hannes is a beer truck driver in Dortmund. His biggest dream is to win the first prize at the International Timetable Contest in Inari (Finland). When...
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Train Birds
1989
Cha Cha Cha
6.7/7
A lawyer pays a visit to Matti Ojanperä, a bum living under a bridge in the Helsinki harbour, to inform him that he is about to inherit an American au...
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Cha Cha Cha
1999
Spy Games
4.6/13
A romantic suspense-comedy about CIA agent Harry (Bill Pullman) and SVR agent Natasha (Irene Jacob) fighting to save the world, their lives and secret...
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Spy Games
1981
Pedon merkki
4.6/7
Set during the Second World War in the Finnish war zone.
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Pedon merkki
2015
We Are the Pirates of the Roads
4.7/6
The Rosvola family – The Robbersons drive around the country in their pirate car robbing bypassing cars of their sweets, extra food and consumer goods...
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We Are the Pirates of the Roads
2009
The House of Branching Love
5.8/26
A sort of "Divorce Finnish Style," Mika Kaurismäki's rambunctious comedy, The House of Branching Love , recounts the breakup of a thirty-something pro...
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The House of Branching Love
2017
Kiwi Christmas
5/5
Fed up with the materialism of Christmas, Santa runs away to New Zealand for a summer holiday. When two Kiwi kids figure out who he is, they have to f...
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Kiwi Christmas
1986
Kuningas lähtee Ranskaan
4.5/4
A new ice age is coming to England. All energy sources have been depleted and despair is taking over the earth. The young king decides to use his last...
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Kuningas lähtee Ranskaan
1985
Viimeiset rotannahat
5.3/3
Anssi Mänttäri’s low-budget movies with their intimate content have become classics. In this black comedy that takes place in Helsinki in summer the m...
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Viimeiset rotannahat
1985
Rosso
6.7/5
Giancarlo Rosso, a professional assassin from Sicily, is sent to Finland to kill a very specific target. When he reaches the country, he discovers tha...
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Rosso
1989
Paper Star
4.6/5
Anna Kelanen is an ex-model, who just has been released from prison. She thinks back on her life, when she was a rather successful model, and on the t...
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Paper Star
2019
Fingerpori
4.188/16
Live action comedy about a fictional town and it's uncommon people, based on a comic strip 'Fingerpori', by Pertti Jarla.
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Fingerpori
1995
Iron Horsemen
6/1
Bad Trip, a biker who has been freshly inducted into a gang, flees from them after stealing one of their bikes.
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Iron Horsemen
2019
Master Cheng
7.152/56
Cheng, 45, a restaurant owner from China, has travelled with his young son halfway around the world to a remote village in Finland. His wife died rece...
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Master Cheng
2000
Bad Luck Love
5.81/21
A shocking crime forces a man to re-evaluate his life, only to find that going straight is more complicated than he imagined. Ali is a low-level crimi...
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Bad Luck Love
1985
Calamari Union
6.793/70
A group of men all called Frank—except for one named Pekka—have had enough of life in their working-class neighborhood, so they set off for a better e...
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Calamari Union
1994
Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
5.8/40
After years of fame and misfortune in Mexico, the members of the Leningrad Cowboys decide to return to their native village. Their former manager Vlad...
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Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
1987
Älä itke Iines
2.5/2
Älä itke Iines is an absurd comedy about an eccentric community that lives on the roofs and attic of an apartment building, struggling to improve thei...
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Älä itke Iines
2007
Christmas Story
7.256/121
Hundreds of years ago in Lapland, a little boy named Nikolas loses his family in an accident. The villagers decide to look after the orphaned boy toge...
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Christmas Story
2002
Kymmenen riivinrautaa
3.5/4
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Kymmenen riivinrautaa
1993
Goodbye Gibraltar
0/0
Goodbye Gibraltar, directed by Ulrika Bengst, is a film about reconciliation, encountering different lifestyles and dreams.
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Goodbye Gibraltar
1992
Mestari
3.7/3
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Mestari
1985
Ylösnousemus
5.5/2
A man fakes his own suicide in order to see how his close ones react.
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Ylösnousemus
2011
Bohemian Eyes
6.7/3
Documentary about the life of Finnish actor Matti Pellonpää.
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Bohemian Eyes
1989
Kukunor
0/0
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Kukunor
2006
Onni von Sopanen
9/1
11-year-old Onni is struck with the idea that his parents aren't his biological parents.
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Onni von Sopanen
1993
The Last Border
4.231/13
One man's quest for revenge in a post-apocalyptic world
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The Last Border
2012
The Rise and Fall of a Friendship
4/3
The egocentric author Jalo Rautakumpu welcomes a visitor to his cabin in the Lappish wilderness. After sauna and a bottle of alcohol, the friendship i...
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The Rise and Fall of a Friendship
1999
The Tough Ones
6.6/39
The Tough Ones tells a story of two friends who have a hard time finding their place in the society. Antti and Jussi are released from jail. While the...
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The Tough Ones
2009
One Foot Under
4.625/8
Visa Vuorio, a 35-year old team leader at the Helsinki city gardening department, is suffering from a terminal neurological disease and only has a few...
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One Foot Under
1991
Zombie and the Ghost Train
7.1/16
Antti "Zombie" Autiomaa does two things well: play the bass guitar and drink. After several months' sleeping on the streets of Istanbul, he returns to...
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Zombie and the Ghost Train
2018
Ryhmäteatteri
0/0
Documentary on the history of Ryhmäteatteri theatre company.
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Ryhmäteatteri
2011
Let My People Go!
5.2/20
Everyone knows that Ruben is Jewish, gay, half-French, half-Finnish, an ungrateful son and disappointing lover, a thief who can’t help himself, and po...
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Let My People Go!
2022
The Grump: In Search of an Escort
6.385/13
Grump's life follows the same familiar routines: spring is here and the early potato harvest is ripening. But Grump crashes his beloved Ford Escort an...
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