January 22-23: Le Havre
January 22-23: Le Havre
(Finland, 2011. 93 mins. French with English subtitles)
A Film by Aki Kaurismäki
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqhAe0gx5c4
No other contemporary filmmaker manages to blend
deadpan, ironic humour with
social commentary in quite the
same manner as Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki. In Le Havre, the moody, retro
ambiance of the film’s titular Norman port city enhances a tidy plot that blends
the noir-ish elements of a Jean-Pierre Melville film with the gentle humanism of
Jean Renoir at his best. Atmospheric, quiet and completely assured, Kaurismäki
employs these diverse elements to tell a highly contemporary story about illegal
refugees, a subject of immediate relevance in today’s Europe.
The film circles around Marcel Marx, a warm, aging bohemian artist who has
retreated to the French port city of Le Havre and taken up work as a shoeshine
man — a profession with a limited future, as everyone seems to be wearing
running shoes. He is married to a woman with a heart of gold and, despite their
poverty and limited means, he finds joy in their local neighbours, all of whom
seem as if they have emerged intact from a 1930s movie. One day, Marcel
befriends Idrissa, a young African immigrant hoping to make his way to England
in a shipping container with other illegals. Marcel is determined to extend a
helping hand to the wide-eyed boy, but the law, in the form of Inspector Monet,
is equally determined to stand in his way. An intricate dance of hide-and-seek
ensues, Marcel using all his ingenuity to hide Idrissa while the nefarious Monet
keeps hot on the trail.
Kaurismäki’s humour is always inclusive, insightful and intelligent, here
deployed to assist what is in effect a realistic fairy tale. As with all fairy
tales, surprises abound along the way. What’s most telling about Le Havre,
however, are the effortless performances he evokes from a range of actors both
French and Finnish, from long-time collaborators like Kati Outinen and André
Wilms to an outstanding turn by Jean- Pierre Darroussin (equally fine in Robert
Guédiguian’s Les neiges du Kilimandjaro, also being presented in the Festival)
as the ominous Inspector Monet.
Cast: André Wilms, Kati Outinen, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Blondin Miguel, Elina Salo