''Nousukausi'', a.k.a. ''Upswing'', is a

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

. It is directed by

Johanna Vuoksenmaa Johanna Vuoksenmaa (born 21 September 1965) is a Finnish television and film director and screenwriter who has also worked as a photographer, installation artist and a teacher. Her films have been shown at numerous film festivals around the world ...

Story overview

A well-to-do,

young urban professional Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...

couple desires an unusual, cutting-edge vacation and seek the help of a travel agent from Invisible Hand Tours. The couple begin their vacation as unemployed slum-dwellers while their manipulative travel agent makes off with everything they own. When the couple realizes they have been duped, they race to track down the con as their lives spiral out of control.

Plot

A dissatisfied

yuppie Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...

couple in the IT business, with no kids and a fancy house in a prestige neighbourhood, have a few weeks off before the husband's new career challenges. Envious about their friends' exotic holiday destinations, the husband meets a

travel agent A travel agency is a private Retailing, retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related Service (economics), services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel supply chain, suppliers to offer different kin ...

at a party, offering the ultimate experience: a one-month vacation under a false identity in

Jakomäki Jakomäki (; ) is a ''quarter'', part of Suurmetsä neighbourhood in Helsinki, Finland. It has an area of 1.92 km2 and a population of 5,481 (2005).http://www.hel2.fi/tietokeskus/helsinki_alueittain_2005/506Jakom%C3%A4ki.pdf 2005 statistics ...

, a suburban block of flats in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. Part of the deal is that their credit cards, house keys, phones, passports, and custom automobile are all traded in for a run-down council-housing apartment and four envelopes each with a weekly cash, equal to a standard unemployment allowance. Acting as an unemployed couple, their street credibility is often questioned by their new neighbours who are more at home with the ways of the concrete jungle. However, they discover after the first week that the second envelope is empty, and that the travel agency where they purchased their extreme vacation, does not exist.

External links

* 2003 films 2003 comedy-drama films Finnish comedy-drama films Finnish black comedy films 2000s Finnish-language films Films directed by Johanna Vuoksenmaa 2000s Finnish films {{2000s-Finland-film-stub