Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana

A gem from the variable Kaurismäki, this beautifully economic anti-romantic road comedy is both hilarious and strangely touching. The slim story charts the encounter between two morose Finns (one devoted to vodka, the other to coffee) and two Russian women who hitch a lift on their way back to Estonia. The men suffer much discomfiture at the proximity of two talkative members of the opposite sex. Marvellously observed and understated, the film exudes a delicious sense of the absurd. This is deadpan as good as it gets.