lasttimeisaw Le Havre, the port city of France, is given a retro-chic luster by Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki, LE HAVRE is a straight-faced parable singing the praise of altruistic deeds, Marcel Marx (Wilms) is an elderly shoeshiner, leads a quiet life with his wife Arletty (Outinen), and their dog Laika, then one day, Arletty falls gravely ill, and is taken into hospital but she prefers not to let on the severity of her condition (malignant tumor) to Marcel. During the same time, a teenage illegal immigrant from Africa is on the lam, whom Marcel alights on near the waterway, out of goodwill, Marcel leaves him food and some money, and before soon, the boy, whose name is Idrissa (Miguel), ends up in Marcel's humble abode and turns out to be rather amenable and sensible. Apparently from the very start, Marcel is sympathetic toward's Idrissa's fix, so he takes it on himself to help the latter reach London, where he can be reunited with his mother. This requires some footwork, Marcel travels to Calais and meets Idrissa's grandfather (U'kset) who is interned inside a refugee facility, from their conversation Marcel knows Idrissa's father has died in transit, and acquired the address of his mother in London. Back to Le Havre, he organizes a come-back concert for the local rock star Little Bob in order to raise enough money for Idrissa's stowaway fee, but they must act rapidly because a diligent local detective Monet (Darroussin), starts to sniff around Marcel's business, and will he let the boy off the hook when the crunch comes?LE HAVRE is permeated with Kaurismäki's stock-in-trade, the quaintly appealing reductive settings underlined by his muted chromatic choices, an equable cinematographic movement pays solemn attention to the particulars of its sparse mise-en-scène; the deadpan acting modality (somehow quite poignant thanks to his usual players), not-mincing-words dialogue, and his never- diminishing rock n' roll frame-of-mind, captured with utter elation by Little Bob aka. Roberto Piazza's age-defying live singing. All the composites are there, but what makes LE HAVRE a more cogent and touching pièce-de-résistance than his other works, say the bleakly postured LIGHTS IN THE DUSK (2006), lies in Kaurismäki's sacred faith of compassion and philanthropy that so intrinsic to a living human being, in particular a sense of communal solidarity among the denizens, formed almost overnight when words of Marcel's action filters through the close-knitted neighborhood, whether the matter in question is about immigrant or not, Kaurismäki's fable rams home that good deeds always meet with a worthwhile reward, however improbable or even "miraculous" as in this film, and it is not at all cutesy or didactic, on the contrary, it is a magnificent twist and it is so life-affirming and pleasurable. French actor André Wilms impresses with his straight-up good guy image, yet he is not above fibbing and hobnobbing when he sees fit, but not one minute he relinquishes his dignity, integrity and optimism; equally memorable is Jean-Pierre Darroussin's outwardly surly detective, surprisingly holds together his about-face without too much of affectation. One might contend that the story is seen through a pair of rose-glassed spectacles, and could be seized upon as a blunt propaganda towards the topical immigrant policies, but a film's greatness indeed should be appraised by its own virtue sans spatiotemporal perimeters, thus, for my money, LE HAVRE is a charismatic bread of life reinforcing our faith in human nature (which is ever so imperative at present), meanwhile not sacrificing its distinct artistic flair and aesthetic philosophy.

ao590 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.

Jackson Booth-Millard From director Aki Kaurismäki (Ariel), this French film was another new addition to the titles listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and when I read the plot line I was very much looking forward to it. Basically former artist and struggling author Marcel Marx (André Wilms) has relocated to the port city Le Havre having given up his literary ambitions, he makes a not too profitable living as a shoe shiner, spends time at his favourite bar and lives with wife Arletty (Kati Outinen). Meanwhile in the docks, inside one of the many containers in the port, arrived from Gabon supposed to be travelling to London, police and French border guards find a group of illegal African immigrants, seeing the elders the young teenage boy of the group manages to escape, news of his getaway makes the news. Arletty is becoming seriously ill, she visits hospital and is given devastating news, but she asks the doctors not to tell her husband about it, she wants them to lie that they are continuing tests for what is a minor illness, he asks questions but gets rather small answers from both the doctors and his wife. Marcel is the first friendly face that the boy, Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), sees when he is hiding under the city pier, the old man helps the young man leaving him some food and money, but soon enough the police led by Inspector Monet (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) are snooping around, and feeling sorry for the boy Marcel takes him home to hide until he can find a way to London. Idrissa tells his story during the time he spends in the old man's house, and he helps out with some small tasks, but ultimately he has to stay inside and not be spotted, and friends of the shoe shiner are happy to help him keep this secret, but Monet is very suspicious of this activity and is getting closer each time to the truth. In the end, having got to know Marcel, having a personal agenda, Inspector Monet does eventually find Idrissa when a boat has been arranged to travel to London to be reunited with his mother, and also feeling sorry the policeman allows him to go free and lies to his colleagues, and Marcel is sad after finding out the truth that his wife is close to death, she dies, but he knows he has friends to help him get by. Also starring Elina Salo as Claire, Evelyne Didi as Yvette, Quoc-Dung Nguyen as Chang, François Monnié as Grocer, Roberto Piazza as Little Bob and Jean-Pierre Léaud as Denouncer. Wilms gives a really charming performance as the elderly man who forms an unlikely friendship with a younger character, Miguel as the young man on the run and trying get away from the authorities is likable, Darroussin as the unavoidable police inspector is interesting, and Outinen as the slowly suffering wife is sympathetic, other supporting cast members are good too. It is two interesting and humanity based stories in one, the old man helping a friend out of trouble, and the woman who lies to her husband to avoid heartbreak and despair, the story is filled thankfully with funny moments as well to keep spirits up, but all in all it has a lot of heart and makes for an enchanting comedy drama. Very good!

writers_reign 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.