Le Havre (2011)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely brilliant

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Once you see it it stays with you forever. You'll want to show it to the people you love.

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.

It would not be an understatement to suggest that in today's hostile, inhuman world where human sentiments have been replaced by deeper technological penetration, more and more films are needed to soothe world's sorrows and troubles. One way of doing it is to create films with a good combination of entertainment with a serious message. Aki Kaurismaki's "Le Havre" is one such film which has managed to please both critics as well as general public with its effective depiction of the plight of illegal immigrants who need to be dealt with in a more humane manner. An astute viewer can guess that the making of "Le Havre" should be construed as a kind of serious artistic challenge for Aki Kaurismaki as most of his films have portrayed Finnish realities in Finland. It is nice to learn that he has successfully scored good marks in this test as "Le Havre" has all the amazing qualities of a Finnish film which has been made in a different setting. Although it is shot by Aki Kaurismaki in Le Havre, a famous French port city,there is absolutely no change of style on his part. Aki Kausrismaki is as much concerned about the plight of his protagonists as he was in his Finnish films. He has kept his ubiquitous formula intact which concerns a problem that needs to be solved regardless of innumerable obstacles. However, this film succeeds to a double degree as there are two problems in hand which have been justly resolved namely the plight of an immigrant black boy and ill health of the protagonist's wife. Lastly,French actor Jean Pierre Darroussin shines as he continually reminds viewers of Inspecteur Javert.

I've been to Finland. It's cold. There's not much to do there. Nothing much happens, unless a reindeer runs over grandma. So it is quite understandable that when writer\director Aki Kaurismaki decided to make an awards-worthy movie, and weighed his two options (Nazi zombies popping out of the deep snow, or filming somewhere else), he chose the second alternative. With a story centering on an illegal alien caught in a strange land on his way to London, changing countries was a requirement (no one ever has reached Finland by accident; a person needs good directions and lots of money to get there). When the main character of LE HAVRE, Marcel Marx, first meets young alien Idrissa from Africa, Idrissa is standing in waist deep water in the harbor. If this scene were taking place in Finland, Idrissa would not be standing up, as the water temperature would freeze him solid in 8 seconds or so. One of Idrissa's most dramatic escapes comes as he's hidden inside a street vendor's vegetable cart. It would take a team of 40 dogs to pull a cart that size in Finland, and the only produce you'd be able to sell is icicles. Though Finland is tiny compared to France, it has not surrendered to Germany as many times, and Kati Outinen as Marcel's wife Arletty and Laika as his dog Laika more than hold their own with the French cast members.