Le Havre
Feb 1, 2012 at 2:00pm + 7:30pm
(Finland, 2011 – Rated PG - 93 min – subtitled)
Directed by Aki Kaurismäki
Cast: Kati Outinen, André Wilms, Jean-Pierre Darroussin
Click here to watch the trailer.
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, QFA 2003). 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.
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.
“Le Havre offers the director’s usual humour, pitch-perfect acting and compassionate message with a Gallic twist that should win new converts.”
– Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail
