”Any resemblance to real persons is not at all coincidental,” says a text at the beginning of Mika Kaurismäki’s film Cha Cha Cha. The hilarious comedy is one of the three 1989 premieres by the productive director.
Drunkard Matti (Matti Pellonpää) gets fished out from under the Ruoholahti Bridge, when his aunt from the United States makes a tempting offer: she promises him a million dollar inheritance, as long as he cleans up. Doing the fishing are his best friend, car dealer Kari (Kari Väänänen) and his wife Sanna (Sanna Fransman), who agree to help in exchange for half of the inheritance. Matti and Kari end up trading places for a couple of weeks to prepare for the aunt’s pending check-up visit.
Kaurismäki’s trading places farce is screwball comedy with a Finnish touch. Twists and turns are aplenty, and a love triangle cannot be avoided, with the switch-up mixing up the lives of the central trio.
Inari Ylinen