Le Havre
Aki Kaurismaki's La Havre stars Andre Wilms as Marcel, a free-spirited, good-natured writer who is currently making a living as a shoeshiner. He meets Idrissa (Blondin Miguel, an African refugee and helps the young man hide from officials who want him deported., Meanwhile, Marcel's loving wife suffers from a serious illness.
Director: Aki Kaurismäki
Starring: André Wilms, Elina Salo,Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Blondin Miguel, Kati Outinen
This movie is as lovable as a silent comedy, which it could have been.
The setting is somewhere between a post-WWII Brigadoon and the environs of Marcel Carn classic "Children of Paradise," but the story is as timely as this morning's news from Europe.
Le Havre is a playful parable that conveys profound truths about compassion, humility and sacrifice. It offers proof that miracles do happen - especially in Kaurismaki's lyrically hardscrabble neighborhood.
Buster Keaton isn't dead, he's alive and well in Finland, where under a new identity he pursues his own particular brand of deadpan absurdism to wonderful effect. If the name Aki Kaurismäki doesn't mean anything to you, it should, and Le Havre may be the film to make it happen.
Le Havre proceeds from the usual Kaurismäkian premise: Things are only going to get worse, so why not just go with it?
Best Foreign Language Film
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards (2012)
Competition
Cannes Film Festival (2011)
Best International Feature
Chicago International Film Festival (2011)
Best Supporting Actor
Chlotrudis Awards (2012)
Best Foreign Language Film (Nejlepsí zahranicní film)
Czech Lions (2013)