Le Havre (2011) User Reviews (48)

A sweet, simple film with a dark sense of humor

[Copyright1994 · 8/10 · 14 September 2011]

(Read the full review at http://nickplusmovies.blogspot.com)

I started off my experience at this year's Toronto International Film Festival with Aki Kaurismäki's "Le Havre", a rather obscure, small production that was competing for the Palme d'Or at Cannes (it was Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" that was the big winner). The question is: Did I start off on the right foot? Read on to find out...

"Le Havre" centers on an elderly, working-class shoe shiner named Marcel Marx (played by André Wilms), living with his loving wife Arletty (Kati Outinen) in the French port city of... Le Havre. Although his profession only leaves him with enough money to get by, he never gives up hope and always finds great joy and warmth in all the people in his life-- be it his friendly, selfless, next-door neighbor or the kind owner of the local bar. Marcel's life takes a bit of a turn when he must send his ill wife to the hospital, hoping she will get better soon. But that's not it-- soon after, when he finds himself alone, eating a sandwich at the harbor, he discovers a young African boy named Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) hiding in the water. Marcel befriends him and learns that he had been hiding with many other illegal immigrants in a shipping container, with hopes of arriving in London to meet up with his aunt. The old man voluntarily goes out of his way to keep him away from authorities and completely out of sight, but soon, this situation quickly transforms into a cat-and-mouse game, lead by the persistent, intimidating, wolf- like police inspector Monet (Jean-Pierre Darroussin).

With its simplistic plot, clearly defined characters, and inviting setting, this film has all the qualities and characteristics of a great short film-- if you don't count its feature-length runtime. Is this a bad thing? Hardly! I find that this makes the film all the more absorbing and enjoyable, though slow in progression at times and thus able to make your average modern-day moviegoer lose interest. But I still believe that sometimes, it's nice to just sit down and follow a naturally flowing, straightforward story, when most of the movies you see today are flashy and overly stimulating to the point where they bore you. "Le Havre" is something refreshingly different, for a change.

Rarely do films combine comedy with drama in such a natural, uncontrived way. With this film, Aki Kaurismäki proves to be one of the few working directors able to pull off a mixture of dark, ironic, and deadpan humor while maintaining the same upbeat, cheerful, and optimistic tone throughout the entire film. A great example of this guy's exemplary sense of humor is the opening scene of the film, where we see Marcel going around with his shoe shining materials, looking for a paying customer. He finally lucks out when he approaches a suspicious looking type holding a suitcase in his hand. As he shines this man's shoes, we see two other mysterious figures watching from a distance. It's clear that something's up. When Marcel finishes his job, the man pays him and quickly tries to escape. But it's too late; we hear gunshots, a tire squeal, and a scream as the camera lingers on Marcel, whose facial expression remains pleasant. He simply says: "Luckily he had time to pay.". Of course, since it's more of a visual gag, it's much funnier when you see it for yourself. Having said that, there's no denying that this film has very smart comedic elements.

What I love just as much-- if not, more-- about this little film is how authentic and down-to-earth the characters are in their interactions. Every scene is made into such an accurate portrait of life thanks to all of the real, human performances from the entire cast of lesser-known actors. The only thing that threw me off was how the couple of Finnish actors in the film let their accents slip through as they were speaking French. But this would be barely noticeable for those of you who don't speak either one of these languages.

Although this film is Finnish, it's obvious that it's shot on location in France. I was breathless as I got to admire the beauty of the ocean and the quaint coziness of the old city buildings. Sadly, this is the closest I've ever gotten to visiting France! No wonder these sights took me away.

In sum, Aki Kaurismäki's "Le Havre" is a simple, human tale that remains light and pleasant while brushing on topics of illegal immigration and the illness of a loved-one. It's a soulful film that mixes smart humor with true emotion, without ever feeling artificial. I recommend looking for this hidden gem. You might just like it.

Charming and delightful, pure optimistic cinema

[MoodyB84 · 7/10 · 23 March 2013]

These days it seems that French films predominantly fit into one of two categories: Smug, over long and preachy, such as Rust and Bone or Little White Lies. Or they produce deeply involving but simplistic stories containing the most genuine heartfelt emotion such as Amour (in French, therefore French) or The Kid with a Bike. I am happy to say that Le Havre falls in the latter group. In fact the story here is one of pure simplicity and the tone of the film contains nothing but genuine optimism towards the theme of human compassion. That is it, this film has no ulterior motive or no gimmicks, and it is a very simply and extremely involving story based around that one simple theme. However, this film is not just a tribute to human compassion, but contained within it are tributes to the history of cinema that are quite simply a joy to experience. When I say that, the use of music as well the way certain scenes are lit pay a respectful tribute to films of the 40s and 50s throughout the narrative.

This is not to say that this film is not without its realism, Marx and his neighbours all live a humble life bordering on poverty. The plight of Idrissa is unenviable and there is an honest depiction of a refugee camp just outside Calais. However, the theme of Le Havre is not that life is simply good, that would be naive. It is how these characters deal with life and the situations that it presents. Of course it would be so easy to fall into to the trap of patronising and borderline preachy cliché here, but this never happens due to the genuine feeling of honesty depicted throughout the narrative. Every character is presented very honestly with all their flaws quite clear to see, but it is their ability for natural compassion that drives the narrative forward. By the time Le Havre reaches its very satisfying conclusion where there are no loose ends, it is difficult not to feel that not only have you been entertained, but also enlightened.

Pure cinema with a great touch of subtle humor

[torben-olander · 8/10 · 15 February 2012]

Great. Very stylistic in its cinematography and lighting. Condensed and to the bone in its storytelling and editing.

Nice and subtle humour on the background of a highly contemporary story about our unbalanced globe, the hope for freedom and the power of human compassion.

I Truly enjoyed watching a film in which every scene is so carefully and skillfully arranged. This is Kaurismäki at his best working with a great cast and a script stripped of any unnecessary dialogue. The colors and the settings are stunning. There's always a risk that movies like this would come across as to polished or constructed, but from my point of view Kaurismäki strikes a great balance and makes sure that every image adds layers and details to the story.

Blossomed Cherry Tree

[chaos-rampant · 8 March 2012]

This is a sweet, lightly intoxicating thing like a small glass of calvados under the wisteria in the evening. Kaurismaki has aged and his outcast and misfit characters aged with him, the quirks mellowed, the ferocious smoking toned down, the lines in the sometimes quietly astonished stone faces deeper, wearier, but imbued with almost ascetic serenity.

Some viewers have complained, why trivialize an actual problem in the manner of a fairy tale? A fair complaint for a problem perhaps more pressing than ever, especially in France and especially these days, with Sarkozi's desperate attempt to shore up votes for what looks like near-certain defeat in the upcoming elections by reverting to reactionary rhetorics from the far-right.

No, I believe the fairy-tale is the point. The idyllic neighborhood. The mannered caricatures of French people, with even the poorest having the time and fine sense of taste to leisurely enjoy their freshly baked baguette or glass of wine. The miraculous turn of events, explicitly acknowledged in the finale where kindness of this world is so overwhelming it even cures sickness. How could anyone miss this?

But a certain emptiness has always been of the essence for Kaurismaki, deliberate, designed emptiness.

The world is always flat to that effect, two-dimensional. The characters lack any conventional depth to speak of and do not really grow or learn lessons. By contrast, the plots of the films often exhibit a life of spontaneous motion, the objectives intentionally abstract, journeys across town, to America, in search of coffee and cigarettes. Motion for the sheer musical capacity of life to fill the quiet, the room in the heart to do so.

So it is always a variation of transient worlds centered in the stillness of the present moment that Kaurismaki has studied and consistently delivered. What is so remarkable is that he achieves this without any layering whatsoever, as a single flow.

This is his most Japanese film to date, even more concentrated flow than usual. Which is to say artificial nature that does not attempt to pass for the real thing but instead is empty space cultivated for beauty, a road-map for inner heart.

(I saw this together with the recent viral video KONY2012 and the contrast was amazing: that one, shameless artifice passing as nature, as truth, the real thing, contriving to motivate awareness several years after the fact and by selling merchandise, but was in truth both misinformed and morally dubious and even perhaps unwittingly manipulated agitprop in the service of shady foreign policy, while this one is simple, crisp, gracefully moral work, that does create awareness without any agendas.)

So it is very much the point that no one in the film is shown to wallow in misery, and most of the characters we meet would have plenty of reason to do so. Instead they enjoy this drink or meal together, whatever is at hand. And act with no complaint in the present moment to do what needs to be done. There is no meddlesome thought or proud ego to cloud the mind from the day's work, be it polishing shoes or helping out an immigrant kid.

This is the beauty of the thing: an idyll embedded with the purity of soul that gives rise to it and clear images only possible because of this cloudless eye.

The parting image is of a blossomed cherry tree gently rocking in the breeze, among the most traditionally Japanese images.

It encapsulates motion in stillness. The song of Zen.

An accomplished Kaurismaki story

[poikkeus · 6/10 · 23 March 2012]

In 1992, Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki directed LA VIE DE BOHEME, where he transplanted to Paris for a story of impoverished, failed artists on the cusp of society. A funny, sad film about art, love, and loss. Nearly twenty years later, Kaurismaki returns to France in LE HAVRE; while some of the humor remains, its story of the impoverished and dispossessed is even more affecting.

LA VIE... showed a painterly visual sense, all the more amazing that it was filmed in black and white. LE HAVRE boasts an equally striking visual sense, with scenes that seem to glow. That said, other elements of the production are less convincing - and at times. almost embarrassing. (For example, a group of black refugees are locked in a container crate for almost a week; when it's opened, no one's hungry or even concerned, and several are freshly shaved.)

LE HAVRE sets up the camera in a stationary spot - much like an old silent - giving the film a real resonance. But this affection for older filmmaking will be familiar for Kaurismaki fans; his silent, black and white JUHA uses the same minimalistic approach, with good results.

If you're willing to forgive certain production details and the dependence on melodrama, LE HAVRE is a feel-good story of how those of modest means can help those in desperate straits. (LE HAVRE itself was directed under low budget.) The film's humanism is its saving grace. While the filmmaking is occasionally awkward, there's still a lot to be admired here.

An authentic blend of realism and poetry

[yris2002 · 8/10 · 30 November 2011]

The natural flowing of this simple movie, where no excesses are to be noticed ,may make one judge it as a weird movie, where something actually happens, but does seem to affect the lives of the characters. This is not properly true. Indeed, this is a simple movie, with no plot twists, no complications, but here does it lie its magic. It's a movie where "normal", common people simply accept their lives for what they are, which does not mean in a passive way, on the contrary they prove morally resilient people, who relate one another in an authentic way, behave as honest and fair people (so difficult to find people like these nowadays, that they look so strange!) they face bad things with dignity, and good things with no easy enthusiasm. Its best quality lies in the perfect and never clashing blend between hard facts (the hardships of immigrants, the theme of illness) and poetry, with a human faith in miracles which never sounds ridiculous or mystical: miracles happen simply because sometimes they may happen, and there's not even much to wonder at. There's such a placid attitude shown by the characters, very well interpreted by a good cast, that if the aim was to convey a calm and resilient acceptance of life, with its weird mixture of hardness and poetry, well, the aim has been successfully accomplished.

Le Havre is a warmly felt drama with subtle humor.

[theworldmoviejournal · 7/10 · 15 May 2012]

Protagonist is Marcel Marx, A Shoeshiner, who makes a peaceful living with his wife Arletty and a dog Laika in city of Le Havre. He incidentally meets an African boy, Idrissa, who is being sought by French authorities as illegal immigrant. Marcel opens his doors to the boy and helps him make his way to join his mother across the water in London.

Despite the complication of Arletty's terminal illness, about which Marcel is not aware, the snooping of grim-faced inspector Monet, and the machinations of the neighborhood snitch, with the help of neighbors and friends that Marcel was deeply in debt to forgive everything for Idrissa, Marcel tries to help the boy.

Kudos to Aki Kaurismäki, the director of Le Havre, for his directorial talent he has exhibited in this movie. No loose ends, characterization and usage of every character is excellent and has kept it very simple by all means.

Once in while you get to watch such an optimistic film that shows love, respect and tolerance for one another in a very simple and practical manner.

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a stunning little tale

[ao590 · 9/10 · 2 January 2014]

This was one of the most visually stunning films I've ever seen. You could pause very nearly every shot and use it as screensaver or make a large print of it; that's how beautiful and well thought out they are.

Aki Kaurismäki evokes a sense of times past. He embraces the 'unreality' of his film, and the genre as a whole, and plays it up with great wit and art. As mentioned by previous reviews, he combines tragedy and comedy seamlessly into an extremely enjoyable and engaging film that doesn't try to pass itself off as life and as such engages on much deeper levels than its straightforward message or story would perhaps imply.

There are so many small details and well-thought out quirks here that keep your attention that it easily accommodates for my internet fried attention span, even while the director chooses not to openly deal with the electronic world. It's a decision indicative of the thoughtful and unique approach to the film; it aids both the storyline and the viewer's experience immensely. I was grateful and relieved to be taken away into a simpler and more honest world; both in the film's outward image, and within the story's universe. Its worth emphasising; this film doesn't try to masquerade as real life and as such allows for a much purer enjoyment. You don't have to worry about checking your expectations once the end credits roll.

Being beautifully shot may not have kept my attention for an hour and half, but the storyline and Kaurismäki's wit certainly did.

The Edward Hopper of cinema

[rubenm · 7/10 · 15 February 2012]

Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki is one of the few film makers who have created their own cinematographic universe. Just like a film by David Lynch or Pedro Aldomovar, a Kaurismäki movie has its own rules, its own characteristics, often even its own actors who appear in every film.

His movies usually have a very simple storyline. They are about ordinary people leading ordinary lives in which not very much happens. The understated humor, the deadpan characters, the retro feeling and the lack of any exuberance are typical of his films and, so it seems, typical of the Fins.

So it's a surprise that this new film is not set in Helsinki, but in Le Havre, the French port city. It would seem that the Scandinavian matter-of-factness and the French joie-de-vivre are difficult to mix, but the opposite is true. This film is as much a typical Kaurismäki as his Helsinki films are.

The main character is Marcel, a shoeshine man who by coincidence meets an African refugee boy who is on the run from the authorities. Out of pity, he helps the boy to hide. The police suspect that Marcel knows more about the boy's whereabouts.

One of the nice things about Kaurismäki is that he likes things to be as they should be. A camera has a large flash bulb on top of it. A French police detective wears a hat and a long black coat. A telephone has a rotary dial. Another thing that distinguishes his films is the use of colour. The colours are very beautiful and saturated, especially in the night scenes. He has a fondness of blue: there are blue walls in Marcel's home, in the bar, in the hospital and in the refugee centre. Another nicety is the timeless character of his world. His films have an old-fashioned feeling over them, and there are almost no modern things like cellphones. The cars are usually old, but from different periods, and in the background you can see modern cars.

The scenes from Kaurismäki's films are like paintings by Edward Hopper: timeless, melancholic, and very carefully constructed.

"Le havre" - a film full of sweetness, simplicity, love, ideals and yet everything's not too much. It just makes you feel good.

[arbatayragerai · 9/10 · 7 November 2011]

To my great pleasure, I have just seen this film. So, my impression and positive feelings, which I got from the movie, haven't vanished yet.

To describe it, well, I couldn't say this film has a very deep meaning, I couldn't say it offers some philosophic ideas to contemplate, I couldn't even say it's logic in every way. As a matter of fact, the film could be accused of being just an empty, trendy imitation of the past. A past, which has actually never existed, and which is just an unreal image of our imagination, created by idealizing times which have already gone. But, to my great surprise, I still enjoy watching it. It's because I enjoy seeing such nice imitation, such nice image of life, which consists of a lot of idealism, which is idyllic and even Utopian. I bet many people miss idealism in their lives and this film just gives them what they want. As it is known, the concept of every movie is to imitate the reality, even create a new reality, which consists of things which we lack in our real life. It's just like cinema genius Alfred Hitchcock said long time ago: "the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake". So this stands for the fact the film is good.

Being more certain, I like „Le havre", because it's nice to watch it. Every set is selected precisely. Voices of actors sound pleasantly. Everything is full of harmony in this film: characters communicate often, they help each other when troubles come in the movie. Marcel's wife does a lot for her husband, she doesn't even tell him she's dying (in order to protect him from suffering). Marcel does a lot for love too. He helps immigrant boy to find his origin. Every resident of Le havre town stand together for the boy, they stand for love, for ideal and they manage to defeat the troubles, the threats which come from outside world. Of course, they do this, they show their idealism not too much, the film is not too „sugary'. The mechanism is quite opposite, it's something like „less is more": less feelings, showed exactly in the right time are less banal, more real, more influential.

Some people may laugh, find humor in some episodes of the film, some, especially those who are insensitive may find „Le havre" vast. Those who tend to conceal their feelings, may even hate the film. But it's just as they say – you love it, you hate it – it's the same, you simply can't manage without it. So that's why the film is suitable for a very wide range of people – I guarantee everyone would be affected by it one way or another.

A fable for the current day with a touch of dry wit and humour

[polar24 · 7/10 · 14 April 2012]

Another joyous work from the Finnish master Kaurismaki whose films always brim with delight and wry humour, an unmistakably Finnish sense of humour. In typical whimsical fashion Kaurismaki has created a charming story set in a nondescript time in a place that couldn't be more current evidenced by the major conflict in the film, the issue of illegal immigration. Le Havre is a city that suits Kaurismaki like any other place in Finland, with it's traditional working class port and harbour, the unique blend of French cultures and English climate. As a francophile with his very dry nordic wit and humour, Kaurismaki is perfect for this somewhat dire subject.

In trademark Kaurismaki style, it is also a very colourful film; with the help of his (brilliant) veteran cinematographer Timo Salminen, Kaurismaki imbues the city of Havre with life, humour in what is characteristically (perhaps only in my perception) a grim and (literally) cold place. Kaurismaki has always had a great eye of visuals, some of his compositions with Salminen are gorgeous: notice the impressionistic ray of sunlight illuminating a grey stone wall at the Gare de Calais, the boisterous colours of the fruit and veg shop with it's provincial style store front, even the shipping containers by night in the rain are haunting and melancholic. It's as if the film was shot in Technicolor, so vibrant is the palette of colours (consistent in most of Kaurismaki's works) it looks like it belongs in an era decades ago. This is coupled with the fact, the style is almost anachronistic from the style of fashions to the modest decor of Marcel's house and the local bar, to the rotary dial phones and very little other modern technology. It is all an utterly charming strange universe.

Kaurismaki's films always play out like a fable of sorts, the every day man (or woman in Drifting Clouds), lives simply in a modest lifestyle, almost on the edge of poverty, making ends meet, with a dream or catalyst to set them off some expected new life. In this case, a writer of sorts Marcel Marx lives each day just to get by and care for (or be taken care of) his equally devoted wife Arletty. When she gets sick and has to go to hospital, she prefers not to worry him and understates her sickness, so he can go along and continue with his life. At the same time he discovers a young boy Idrissa who is on the run from authorities after illegally immigrating from Africa with what looks like entire family of about 20-30 members. His kind and mellow heart leads leads him to foster the boy under his roof with he help of the kindly townsfolk (and the absolutely heart meltingly irresistible Golden Retriever Laika!). However local inspector Monet is on the hunt to restore things to natural (read legal) order.

This combination of hard edged social realism with the young boy and his family' dire outcome and the joyous optimism of Kaurismaki's benevolent play off watch other beautifully. There is some much dry humour in detective Monet's interaction with the townsfolk, the hopeful and determined innocence of Marcel's quest to reunite the boy with his family which belies his simple and bucolic lifestyle, and the efforts of Arletty to ask her doctors to lie to her husband so not to worry him.

Although not as ingenious as his masterwork The Man Without a Past (2002) perhaps lacking the incisiveness and tension in that film (admittedly I've only seen that and Lights in the Dusk (2006)) however Kaurismaki remains in the top eschelon of the very great filmmakers working today due to his incomparable individuality and visual style, generosity and sincerity of his characters, some of which are hopeless nobodies, but they grow on you. He is foremost a humanist storyteller, challenging his characters to do their best, not always perfectly, but with the right heart. I was utterly charmed by this world of Le Havre; in a serious subject about current problems today, that's not always easy to smile about.

Le Havre

[cultfilmfan · 10/10 · 19 January 2012]

Le Havre is a film from Finland in French with English subtitles. The film focuses on a middle aged man named Marcel, who makes a living going around town and working as a shoe shiner. Business is not always great and at home Marcel lives a very simple life with his much adored wife, Arletty. One day a group of refugees are found in town and one of them, a young boy named, Idrissa escapes and is wanted by the local chief inspector and the police. Marcel one day stumbles across the boy and shows kindness to him and the next thing he knows, Idrissa shows up at his home. The rest of the story is about how out of his way, Marcel will go to hide and protect the boy from the police and to find a way to get him back with his family. Le Havre is a great film on several different levels. The acting here from the whole cast is all very good here and just their facial expressions and deadpan looks say a lot even when there is nothing in particular to be said. They convey the feelings and thoughts and emotions of their characters perfectly. The direction and writing of this film by Aki Kaurismaki is also a real delight here. He provides us with some very interesting characters and a good story to use and put them to work in. I also found that the film had just the right blend of humour and drama. Ultimately this is a feel good film and I think almost anybody who watches it will leave feeling very happy and joyful. The story and events in the film are simple enough and nothing is done to extravagance, but I think what really got me about the whole thing was the kindness not only Marcel, but his friends and neighbours, show to Idrissa, knowing that if they are caught, they too could be in a lot of trouble. It was really refreshing to see these characters live their simple yet happy lives and find happiness in things we take for granted and how when one needs help, they will be the first ones there to lend a hand and offer support. They work together well as a community and more than that they are great friends and neighbours who look out for each other. That was what I really thought got me about Le Havre, the basic message of the kindness of strangers and being the good Samaritan and helping out your fellow man. The film I might add is also quite a good looking film and I really admired it's cinematography. At one time it shows buildings and homes in bright primary colours and then goes to show us bleak and older homes that are a bit run down and much more simple. The colour scheme and the effect of this further added to my appreciation of the film and how these characters live. The cinematography actually reminded me of the works of French cinematographer Raoul Coutard, whose work I came to know and love in Jean-Luc Godard's films such as Contempt (which looks absolutely exquisite on it's Blu Ray release), but now back to Le Havre. This is a film where much joy and laughter can be had, but also gives us hope for each other and the human race. The film may be a little unrealistic in that regard of showing the goodness in people, but any film that has that as it's central message and gives us something to not only think about, but to feel good about after is a winner in my books. It may even get you to re-evaluate your own attitudes and perspectives on things, so keep an open mind while watching. This is one of the most entertaining and inspiring films of 2011 and also one of the best.

Aki getting old

[shvne-975-460321 · 6/10 · 25 March 2012]

Being my all time favourite director, i had really high expectations for this film, but after watching it few times can say i'm rather disappointed. Cinematographically it's flawless, and this is something that Kaurismaki has refined over the years: the scenes, the lights and the colors. On the other hand the story; still has this special mixture of simplicity, absurdity and realism, But it's mostly the child personage that bothers me, because it draws too much empathy from the public, which I think is a cheap-trick for such a great director. What I like about his "loser" characters is that I can laugh at their sufferings – here this is not so much the case. It appears "tolerant"; "politically correct", clichés that are appealing for wider public. He has always been nostalgic in a very ironic way; this time it seems to me he's just getting old

Stonefaced acting tired me out

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 16 August 2014]

Marcel Marx is an old shoeshiner in the French port city of Le Havre. He doesn't have money to pay for things that he 'buys on credit'. One night, a dock worker hears a baby inside a container. Police inspector Monet find a group of African illegals inside. One boy Idrissa escapes. Marcel takes pity on the boy and takes him in. Monet is after the boy while people in the poor community help out. The boy's group was going to London and Marcel intends to help him complete his journey.

This is more of a social commentary fantasy. The acting has an air of artificiality which annoyed me. It's static and too cool. It's a deliberate style that may work better for the critics. I can't stand the stone face acting. That plus the subtitles leave a barrier to the comedy. I would have been better to have the lead Marcel as a silent Tramp.

A fairy tale Kaurismäki-style

[saschakrieger · 24 October 2011]

It's all so familiar: The shabby, old worn interiors, the far from picturesque scenery, those slightly patina-covers images with their dirty soft colors, the slowness, those long shots which are hardly more than stills, even the hairdos. Not only do Aki Kaurismäki's films have a very distinctive look and feel, they all have this quality of watching something that is not quite there. Nostalgia is the wrong word, but his films and more so his characters have fallen out of time. They are creatures of the past, but the present they end up in is not quite the present we know either. There is a timeless quality or rather a different sense of time in the slow movements, the museum-like atmosphere, the silence. More often than not Kaurismäki's characters are not exactly talkers. So it is no surprise that Le Havre looks a lot like Helsinki but there sure is a lot more talking going on.

At the end of the day, Le Havre both is and is not a typical Kaurismäki. It is his most upbeat and optimistic film to date. Gone is most of his trademark melancholia, the despair many of his protagonists have to fight and sometimes succumb to. On the other hand, his films have never been as cynical, hopeless or pessimistic as the occasional viewer may think. On the contrary, underlying his work has always been a basic belief in the goodness of humankind - at least the underprivileged part of it, those on the outskirts of society. And there always has been a fairy-tale quality in many of his films. Le Havre can be regarded as the culmination of both: a truly optimistic fairy-tale, a story about goodness which well may be too good to be true. But maybe it is not.

André Wilms reprises his role from Kaurismäki's 1992 film La Vie de Bohème, however, Marcel, the unsuccessful writer, has turned into a shoe cleaner - a profession that belongs to a different time, too. One day he finds an African boy who escaped when the police found the container in which he and dozens of others tried to get to London. He takes him in and eventually gets him to London. Meanwhile, Marcel's wife (the wonderfully dignified sad angel Kati Outinen) is diagnosed with a fatal sickness which she refuses to tell Marcel about. Don't be surprised though, if a miracle is in the making here, too.

This may be a run-down, shabby world but it is inhabited by the best kind of people one could imagine. And they're not flat characters, but full-blooded sinners with exceptionally good hearts. This is, after all, a fairy tale with a fairy tale ending but it is also more - a celebration of the human spirit, of goodness in the face of adversity, a beautiful vision of what the world could be if we all tried a little harder to do the right thing.

At the same time, Kaurismäki never loses sight of the evil humans do to each other. TV excerpts and a relentless police hunt highlight the plights of immigrants in today's France and elsewhere. if there is a message here it is that each of us must start in their own lives to do good, only then do we have a chance to make this place we call earth a little better. It is a simple message but told like this it is hard to escape its grip. And who ever said that answers cannot be simple sometimes?

Kaurismäki creates beautiful as well as memorable images, mostly stills such as the one in the harbour with the boy in the front and Marcel in the background. An image of longing and also of togetherness. The most intense scene occurs when the container is opened and the camera goes from face to face. All turns quiet, a choking silence that is hardly bearable. And eyes who tell stories that could fill books.

Not all is dead serious though, there is a playful element to this film. Kaurismäki starts it with a wonderfully cliché noir scene and ends it in n equally cheesy melodrama. Don't take me too seriously, we might hear him say, I'm just throwing some ideas at you. Catch them if you like.

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Humor Blends With Realism

[gfranceschini · 6/10 · 26 December 2011]

I really enjoyed this film.

The subject of the film is the problem of immigration and how countries (France) are dealing with it. But thanks to the humor of the characters and of their interaction the film is very light and funny.

The photography recalls realism and gives to the people and the location this sense of consumed and lived, which blends perfectly with the story of the protagonist Marcel.

The characters are absolutely perfect, especially André Wilms (Marcel) who plays his role greatly. However, the character I loved the most is the detective, played by Jean-Pierre Darrousin who makes me remember of Jacques Clouseau of "The Pink Panther".

I recommend this film!

Kaurismäki goes France

[stensson · 8/10 · 3 January 2012]

He's one of the directors (very few) there you recognize who's made the movie just after a couple of seconds. Kaurismäki has a tender view on shabby environments and shabby people. It has suited his Finland conception very well.

But it functions also in France and Le Havre, there you meet this shoe-polisher who tries to help a refugee boy. Not just the shoe-polisher, all working class people do.

It's a little miracle like every film in a sort of way is everywhere, but Kaurismäki takes it on without shame. And his environments and his tenderness seem to be universal. France is like Finland and the rest of the world.

Well made, but I would also agree that this film trivializes complex issues.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 4 September 2013]

The plot to "Le Havre" is very, very simple...perhaps too simple. A guy who makes a few bucks shining shoes comes upon a young African kid who is running from the immigration authorities. Instead of turning him in, he helps the kid. At first, the help is pretty simple--such as bringing him food and letting him stay at his home. However, later the man is so interested in the kid that he travels to see the boy's grandfather--and ends up promising to get the young man to London to meet his mother. During all this, the shoeshiner's wife is in the hospital--apparently dying of cancer. How does all this work out? See the film.

As I mentioned above, the plot is extremely simple. While illegal immigration is a complex issue, here in this film it's simple--break the law. The immigration officers are evil and it's up to the people to stop them. I would have MUCH preferred a film that talks about the pros and cons of unrestricted immigration instead of one that boils it down to simplistic and emotional answers. Overall, a decent film due to the acting but one that I think it a bit overrated.

Aki did it again, funny and very watchable film about serious case

[nurtsio · 9/10 · 19 June 2011]

First of all, I must say that I was greatly surprised yesterday at Sodankylä. I was staff member at Midnight Sun Film Festival in Sodankylä, Finland. The Large Tent was more than sold out, there were more than eight hundred people inside. Tent capacity was designed for 700 spectators.

Mr. Kaurismäki itself was there speaking to the audience and receiving questions. Applause was huge.

Actually I wasn't expecting anything. I haven't seen much A. Kaurismäki's films but I had heard about them a lot. I didn't even know that it was film's premiere. Everybody else knew, I'm sure.

Le Havre was humorous story about immigrating and people's fancy relationships. I laughed so much that evening. The experience was breath-taking. Very serious problem was handled so well in the movie. I love it.

Trivializes complex issues

[howard.schumann · 7/10 · 12 November 2011]

It is estimated that there are between 21.4 and 32.1 illegal immigrants or 10-15% of the total of all immigrants in the world. How to deal with illegal immigration has been a source of controversy in most Western countries and raises many complex political, economic and social issues. Le Havre, however, the latest film by Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki and his first in French, glosses over these thorny issues, turning them instead into a sweet, charming, feel-good odyssey, apparently designed for children who believe in fairy tales and enjoy reading subtitles. Beautifully shot by cinematographer Timo Salminen, the port city has the look and feel of the sixties or seventies.

Only the incongruity of cell phones and those annoying contemporary social problems intrude on the quaintness. In the film, Marcel Marx (André Wilms), a former bohemian artist and sculptor, incongruously shines shoes in Le Havre, France with his co-worker Chang (Vietnamese actor Quoc-dung Nguyen). When his wife Arletty (Kati Outinen), the only one in the film with a Finnish accent, is hospitalized with a serious illness, Marcel finds and takes care of a runaway African boy, Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), an illegal immigrant who escaped from a shipping container that had been sitting on the dock for weeks due to a computer mix-up.

Idrissa is being relentlessly pursued by detective Monet (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), another of Kaurismaki's morose characters, but is protected by Marcel's neighbors, the owners of the local bar, bakery, and fruit stand, even though providing shelter for an illegal immigrant is prohibited by law. Idrissa is a cipher who is given few lines to deliver, shows no emotion, and whose role in the film adds nothing to what we know about the plight of illegal immigrants. Totem poles have communicated more. To raise the money needed for Idrissa's passage to London to be reunited with his mother, a charity rock concert is put on, headed by Little Bob (Robert Piazza), a local rock star, providing the audience with a diverting if extraneous musical interlude.

The sub-plot ends in an uplifting contrivance that does not generate even a modicum of authenticity. In Le Havre, France is depicted as the land of miracle cures, a country where police have compassion for black children, especially if they are illegal immigrants. Don't get me wrong, I believe in miracles, goodness, warmth, wholesomeness, and all the good stuff in life. I even think its okay to help our fellow man, as long as you don't get carried away. Here, however, the only good stuff that happened is that I was able to resist being force fed on cinematic sugar.

While I think there is certainly room for films to create the space for a new culture of openness and caring where protection of a child is more important than enforcing a morally dubious law, and where neighbors act as a community to do the right thing, the transformation of society must be built on a more solid foundation, that of truth, integrity, and spiritual connection, none of which are present in this film.

Medical doctors act in contradiction to their sworn oath, Marcel, who previously warned Idrissa to stay in the house at all times, sends him on an errand to the hospital alone, compromising the safety he vowed to protect. When his wife tells him she will be in the hospital for a long time, Marcel asks no questions, demands no answers, appears unconcerned, and rarely visits. When a man is shot near his shoeshine stand at a train station, he makes a flip remark about how happy he was to be paid before the killing but shows no concern or compassion for the victim, does not call 911, or otherwise become involved.

Unanticipated medical cures, when they do occur, do not arise from thin air like Shakespeare's plays, but from a deep well of spiritual connection and high intention, neither of which are in evidence in this situation. Fantasy, of course, has its place but when issues of sociological and ideological significance are present, reducing the issues to good guys versus bad guys removes the viewer from the world they inhabit. Though well-intentioned, Le Havre trivializes complex issues, circumvents others, and ends up being as safe and comfortable as Puss n' Boots.

Harbouring Fugitives

[writers_reign · 8/10 · 4 May 2012]

This is reminiscent of Marcel Pagnol's great trilogy Marius, Fanny, Cesar, which was also set in a French port. There are, of course, close to a thousand miles separating Marseilles in the South from Le Havre in the north but both are imbued with a strong sense of community and both address the realities of life and both furnish happy endings. Very little happens here - a group of illegal immigrants are discovered in a container on the docks; one, a young boy, runs away and is befriended by a man who shines shoes for a living; the man's wife develops a terminal illness. A great deal of film time is spent eating, drinking,and talking. The shoeshine man organises a concert to raise money to pay for the boy's illegal passage to England, he visits his wife in hospital. A police Inspector who investigates crime rather than illegal immigrants circles in the background. The boy gets away, the man's wife recovers. It's not unlike lifting a pebble in a rock pool and examining the life going on there. It's a beautiful film, finely acted by an ensemble cast virtually unknown with the exception of the magnificent Jean-Pierre Darroussin as the policeman.

Simple story, maybe too simple

[Serenus_Zeitblom · 7/10 · 21 August 2023]

A poor outcast and shoeshiner within the grey area of Le Havre brings light and colour into his life and that of one very young man. Which role do others play? And what is going on with his wife?

Btw: Kati Outinen does not fit in at all there. Her 'suffering' as well as overhuge Baltic Sea face is supposed to convey emotion, but her personal role is too obvious artificially-inserted. It diminishes and obfuscates the role of the hero, too.

It is the camera that supports the movie, the colours of the harbour, the frames. Apart from that, it's an oversimple fairy tale story, heard and seen a bit often, even though Kaurismäki places it before the background of the migration.

Timeless film that exceeds all expectations

[paperbackboy · 8/10 · 9 January 2015]

This splendid film simply blew away my initial concerns about it being a simplistic take on immigration and authority. The timeless and beautifully fluid settings (which make the action feel like it's taking place variously in wartime, the 1950s and the present day) combine with terse, slightly stylized performances and a pared-to-the-bone script to give this ostensibly simple, lightweight story a broader significance that exceeds all expectations.

The movie yields fresh depths and delights at every turn: the decor and colour palette (that make all of the sets, including a hospital, a café, a local street scene and the Le Havre quayside, look achingly beautiful); the lingering shots framing everyday objects and scenes; the nosey neighbours that effortlessly recall wartime collaborators; the conflicted cop; the rather gratuitous rock song; the beauty of older people and their love for each other; the relationships between young and old... the list goes on and on. Not to mention the oblique way that wider themes such as alienation, family, religion, charity, hope, love, belonging and nationality are also addressed. And it all seems so effortless. Just wow. I nearly gave it a nine, and I've literally never given a film a 9. I'm off to find more films by this director.

Aki Kaurismaki goes politics

[frankde-jong · 7/10 · 8 June 2020]

Woody Allen is synonymous with Manhattan. It was therefore very unusual that his film "Match point" (2005) was situated in London. After that Allen made films situated in Barcelona "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (2008) and Paris "Midnight in Paris" (2011).

Aki Kaurismaki is synonymous with Helsinki. Thus it was very surprising that his new film after five years ("Lights in the dusk" (2006) was his latest) played in Le Havre.

Kaurismaki not only changed location, he also changed his theme. For the first time the story is openly political, treating the problem of immigration to Europe. The only thing that was not changed were most of the characters. As usual most of them are slightly seedy old men with their hearts on the right place.

In his next film "The other side of hope" (2017) Kaurismaki (unlike Woody Allen) would return to his beloved Helsinki. He remained true however to the problems of immigrants.

Forced sentimentalism at best

[stuckwilmond360 · 1/10 · 8 November 2011]

Long ago I used to be a fan of Aki Kaurismaki's films, but his latest films just go on my nerves. What used to be fresh is now only painfully repetitive. Like this film, which is so naive, false, pretentious and ridiculous, combined with poor storytelling and direction. Of course the actors, like Andre Wilms and his dog, are good and the cinematography is flawless, but I can't really understand, that serious people take this film seriously and some find it even a work of a genius! It seems that what ever he does, some people hail without any closer analysis. Le Havre's message is of course human and important, but it's completely wasted, the film doesn't do justice to its subject matter. It's just mediocre in every respect.