vernon film society
Bringing the best in world and Canadian film to film lovers of Vernon and the North Okanagan
LE HAVRE
Monday, January 23
Director: Aki Kaurismäki
Cast: Kati Outinen, André Wilms, Jean-Pierre Darroussin
Run Time: 93 minutes
Country: Finland
Year: 2011
Language: French with English Subtitles
Rating: G (Coarse language)
No other contemporary filmmaker manages to blend deadpan, ironic humour with social commentary in quite the same manner as Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki (The Man Without a Past). An official selection of the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival®, Le Havre has received overwhelming critical acclaim, and has recently been named Finland’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film for the 84th Academy Awards®.
In Le Havre, the moody, retro ambiance of the film’s titular Norman port city enhances a tidy plot that blends the noir-like 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 (The House of Branching Love) and André Wilms (Europa Europa) to an outstanding turn by Jean-Pierre Darroussin (the upcoming The Snows of Kilimanjaro) as the ominous Inspector Monet.
“[A] note-perfect neo-realist fairy tale from the comic Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki” – Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail
Reviews: www.metacritic.com/movie/le-havre
Website: www.janusfilms.com/lehavre/
