Le Havre could be considered the cheery (if a story about human trafficking is in any way cheery) companion piece to Philippe Lioret’s Welcome: an illegal migrant is waylaid in a French port and makes friends with an older man. It’s about here that comparisons stop – where the latter was a strident piece about the inhumanity of cold body politics, Le Havre is a heavily stylised, occasionally wistful tale about generational friendship and doing right in the face of wrong. It’s an Aki Kaurismaki film after all.

In the port town of Le Havre, several African refugees are found in a shipping container, one boy escapes. Hunted by local police, Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) is taken in by the local shoe-shine Marcel (Andre Wilms) who opens up to the boy’s plight. Something of a loveable rogue, Marcel also lives in the margins but soon finds the cool townsfolk warm to his ways, softened by this considerable act of kindness. Already complicated, matters complicate when Marcel’s wife is unexpectedly taken to hospital.

Le Havre is pure Kaurismaki steeped as it is in the auteur’s delightfully distinctive style. All bright light, strong colours and heightened delivery, he may be acquired taste but there’s no escaping the full bodied, savoury experience. Resting somewhere between today’s reality and the innocence of an earlier age, his rebuke of the treatment of refugees is delivered with deadpan authority. It’s warm and funny while keeping the grim truth of his subject close at hand.

Andre Wilm’s wonderfully nuanced performance as Marcel, a compelling cast of supporting characters (Jean-Pierre Daroussan’s police chief is a delight) and a script peppered with delightful vignettes makes this is a must-see. If you’re already familiar with Kaurismaki, you’ll not be disappointed by the winning charm of Le Havre. If you’ve yet to discover his distinctive allure, this is a great place to start.

// COLIN FRASER



After a three year hiatus, Le Havre is a welcome return to the silver screen by Finnish writer/director Aki Kaurismaki. He is, however, credited for a number of producer/writer gigs during the interim. Working with long-time collaborator, cinematographer Timo Linnasalo (who also edited the film), Kaurismaki has set his story in the port city of Le Havre so French, not Finnish, is the language spoken in the film.

Marcel Marx (Andre Wilms, who has also previously worked with Kaurismaki), is an ageing shoe-shine man who works in the streets of the tough town. Times are hard and it seems that the locals are too; Marcel gets booted out of shop doorways and moved on regularly by the authorities. One day he comes across a young African boy, Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), who has eluded the immigration authorities after being discovered in a container dumped on the docks, the result of a computer error.

When Marcel’s doting wife Arletty (Kati Outinen), winds up in hospital with a life-threatening condition, Marcel extends the hand of friendship to the young refugee. There are wonderful characters throughout the film who help Marcel conceal the boy from the immigration authorities; even local copper Monet (Jeanne Pierre Darroussin), resplendent in a black trench coat and hat, isn’t as bad as he first seems. But someone in the ‘hood is white-anting Marcel’s best efforts.

We are in the bowels of a working-class neighbourhood where nobody has much money so, in order to raise funds for Idrissa, the locals band together to put on a charity concert. Little Bob (a weathered old rocker), is the star attraction and he pulls in quite a crowd. The rest you have to see for yourself, but suffice to say Le Havre is a great story, full of pathos, but at no time does it get mawkish or sentimental.

I suspect that Kaurismaki is a fan of ‘40s Hollywood film noir and ‘50s melodrama, a la the films of Douglas Sirk, both genres heavily dependent on lighting - every frame of this film is lit like an impressionist painting. Coupled with really fine performances, this makes Le Havre an absolute gem. To the couple who walked out of the preview audience, what were you thinking? Perhaps you were bored as there was not a car chase, a sex scene or a gun-toting hero. However, there were great characters, beautiful sets and in true Kaurismaki form, enough quirkiness to keep you riveted for 93 minutes.

// SALT
moviereview colin fraser film movie australia review critic flicks