I Hired Joe Strummer To Star In My Movie

I Hired A Contract Killer (1990)
is a Finnish/British directed by Aki Kaurismäki. It's a melancholic story about a French man living in London. He gets fired from his monotonous job after 15 years of service as a result of downsizing and decides he is going to kill himself. After several attempts, he decides he is too big of a coward to do so and hires someone to do the job for him.

But as you can guess, something happens. Between the time that he makes the transaction and the time the man comes for him, he falls in love with a gentle beautiful woman who sells roses in the pub across the street from him. He has a change of heart about dying and spends the movie running from the man.

The plot is kind of dreadful. The course of action the man takes to escape the killer is simply unentertaining. The relationship he has with the woman is also a little strange. It seems to lack real chemistry. I didn't really get why a woman would help a stranger, who is running from his self-requested death, escape from dangerous killers, let alone sleep with him a bunch of times. Maybe her life was also boring.

But there were some cool things about this movie. The dialogue is very sparse. Most of the movie's sound comes from the film's environment; cars, pub noises, apartment sounds. When there is dialogue, it is very stiff. They do no use contractions (say that out loud to feel how stiff that is). The film also has a timeless quality to it. I was very surprised to find out that it was made in 1990. The cinematography was also interesting with cool camera angles and movement. I think the camera angles and the soundscape do most of the story telling.

But the thing I want to mention most, and the reason I'm even posting this is that the film features Joe Strummer, singer from the Clash. He appears in two scenes as a singer and guitar player in a bar, playing with a Conga player. It's really cool to see him in such a bizarre setting. He's plays the songs Burning Light and Afro-Cuban Bebop. While he is playing, the camera is fully focused on him and with very close angles of his hands playing the guitar. I don't know why he's there, probably a friend of the Finnish moviemaker. But I got a real kick out of seeing him. He even plays the songs in their entirety. It's like watching a musical act on Saturday Night Live or something.

I have to give this movie a 7/10 (with at least 3 of those points going to seeing a fallen punk-rock icon play some great tunes in an intimate setting).