Le Havre (2011, Kaurismäki)

[fizz]

Le Havre is about an old man, a young illegal immigrant and the police investigator who doggedly pursues them. Despite seeming like a film that presents a dire situation, Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki mixes deadpan humour, verbal wit and sure fire optimism to make the experience both oddly chirpy and easily enjoyable.

Fusing his fascination of Jean-Pierre Melville (many of the characters wear trench coats and fedora hats) and odd, offbeat dialogues (Kaurismäki is also the writer), Le Havre is about Marcel Marx, a shoeshiner in the port city of Le Havre, who finds himself drawn to the plight of a young African, Idrissa, who is stranded in the city after the shipping container in which he illegally arrives is detained by local police. Max shelters the boy, but a relentless investigator suspects their association and makes it his purpose to find Idrissa and have him arrested. Marcel, always bearing a sunny disposition, has to hatch a plan to get Idrissa reunited back with his family without being caught.

The film’s tone is curiously amusing. The characters seem sad and lonely but always content. Max’s wife is stricken with illness while he is under constant debt, but none of this seems to damping his spirit. All of the characters, in whatever situation they are shown in, exhibit a strange calmness. In this way the tone evokes memories of Jim Jarmusch’s idiosyncrasies and quirkiness but feeling more natural and less moody. While the film is uplifting, it is also layered and takes jabs at the refugee situation in France (the Sangatte refugee camp has a passing reference, while a Vietnamese associate of Max is constant referred to as a Chinese). Just the way the Max finds renewed purpose and energy in his quest to help a stranger, the film has an instinctive way of turning even the most insignificant of situations (such as bar room banter) into droll circumstances. Le Havre therefore feels fresh and invigorating and reiterates the notion that with a positive disposition, even the grim and mundane can’t let down the human spirit.

Rating: 4/5

[shariqq]

Le Havre
Aki Kaurismaki | Finland | 2011
93 min
Le Havre is one of the quirkiest movies I have seen at DIFF over the past few years. The movie is about an old shoe-shiner with a sick wife, who one-day comes across a refugee boy being hunted by the law. The movie is short and makes good use of the situations and dialogues to keep it entertaining without ever becoming a comedy. This conscious treatment of the subject of the movie shows the mastery of the director over the cinematic medium. The movie never once digresses or loses pace, maintaining a very good-natured spirit through its short running time.

My Rating --> 4 of 5

[X.]

Interesting coincidence -- I just returned from screenings of Kaurismaki's LA VIE DE BOHEME and DRIFTING CLOUDS tonight at the LACMA museum.

Haven't seen LE HAVRE yet; but nice to see consensus among the WM group.