Aki Kaurismäki is the extreme left-leaning Finnish director hell bent on satisfying every raving Francophile's dream. With 'Le Havre' he's outdone even the most radical of today's French libertarians by fashioning a tale of a never-say-die, radical liberal curmudgeon, out to save victimized third worlders from the clutches of a 'fascistic' police state (for Kaurismäki that of course includes the Catholic church).
Our curmudgeon hero in question is Marcel, whose surname Kaurismäki unsubtly dubs 'Marx'. A self-described Bohemian, Marcel used to be a bourgeoisie writer but now shines shoes for a living, obviously sharing an affinity with his working class associates (Marcel's shoe shine partner is an undocumented alien from Vietnam who carries a fake ID). Marcel is also a free-loader, often taking food from neighborhood shopkeepers on credit, with no intention of satisfying his debts. The neighbors tolerate him as Marcel's wife, Arletty (named after the legendary French actress of 'Children of Paradise' fame), appears to be a pleasant, unassuming type and soon become much more sympathetic as she falls ill (with cancer) and has to be hospitalized.
The inciting incident occurs when the police find a shipping container loaded with African immigrants at a dock in Le Havre. A young boy, Idrissa, runs away and a police officer is about to shoot him with an automatic weapon (only to be stopped by kindly police inspector Monet, who instructs the officer not to fire since he's only a child).
Wouldn't you guess but Marcel and Idrissa's paths cross and soon enough, Marcel is committed to helping the boy. He travels a long way to a detention center where he finds the boy's grandfather who informs him that Idrissa's mother is now living in London (believe it or not, 'Le Havre' is billed as a comedy and Kaurismäki finds it amusing that the warden at the detention believes Marcel when he claims he's Idrissa's Albino uncle!).
The curmudgeon, now turned unstoppable hero, must find a way to hide Idrissa since the big, bad police are after him. He asks one of the neighborhood shopkeepers, to hide the boy, and she graciously complies by safeguarding him in her apartment above her shop. Another shopkeeper, initially cross with Marcel, now gives him loads of food for the beleaguered Idrissa. In contrast to what happened in World War II, average Frenchmen here are depicted as natural humanitarians who will even break the law in the name of justice. Only government officials, backed by the aforementioned bad guy police force and a reactionary clergy, stand in the way of Idrissa's liberation.
Marcel needs a ton of cash to have Idrissa transported by boat to his mother in London, so he dreams up the idea of a benefit rock concert. All he has to do is convince a local pop star to perform but first must bring the pop star and his wife back together after they've had a lover's spat (again, we're supposed to laugh when Marcel reconciles the two wounded lovebirds).
After Marcel raises the cash and brings Idrissa to the boat, Inspector Monet shows up (as he's done throughout the film) and makes it clear that he's thoroughly on Marcel's side. When the police come on board, he pulls rank and pretends that Idrissa isn't below, in the hold of the boat. One is reminded of the scene in 'Casablanca', where Inspector Renault covers for Rick who has just shot Major Strasser. Just as Monet misdirects his police officers, Renault misdirects the Germans by ordering them to "round up the usual suspects".
Earlier, we see Monet reassuring the Prefect inside the church that he's determined to catch the boy but it's obvious that he has no intention of keeping his word to the religious authorities (seen here as in league with the 'devil' police state). Funny how Monet so easily is determined to risk his entire career for this one boy and join forces with the disgruntled Marcel. You'll also notice that Kaurismäki dare not suggest that any of the Africans that he introduces us to, are anything but upstanding, saintly citizens.
To top it off, Kaurismäki cannot allow his audience to experience any of the hard knocks we might encounter during our travails in life. In the shockingly sentimental ending, Marcel's wife who has a terminal diagnosis, miraculously is cured and returns home with Marcel, presumably to put up with his never-ending curmudgeonly ways.
As a registered Democrat, I am generally sympathetic to liberal causes. However, when some of my more radical left leaning brethren decide to twist reality by proffering up fairy tales of victimization and undeserved heroes sticking up for straw men victims, I can hardly remain silent. Le Havre is watchable to see just how far its misguided director will go in peddling such a self-righteous, sentimental left wing fairy tale.
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