 Early in his career he worked with Rauni Mollberg as co-writer on two of his films, "Milka" (1980) and "The Unknown Soldier" (1985).In 1987 Aaltonen directed his first feature film, "Tilinteko", which he co-wrote with Aki Kaurismäki, who also produced the film.Five years later he directed a film that has been considered his primary breakthrough, "The Prodigal Son" (1992).