LE HAVRE. (2011). WRITTEN, DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY AKI KAURISMAKI. STARRING ANDRE WILMS, KATI OUTINEN, JEAN-PIERRE DARROUSSIN, ELINA SALO, EVELYNE DIDI AND BLONDIN MIGUEL. ALSO STARRING LITTLE BOB AND LAIKA THE DOG AS THEMSELVES. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
I'm actually not a total stranger to the works of Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki, as earlier in 2017 I reviewed his latest film, THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE, a charming, understated little movie about a separated man who wins enough money to buy a restaurant in a card-game. With the help of a Syrian refugee, whom the authorities have decided (in their infinite wisdom...!) to send back to Aleppo, he tries to makes a success of the place.
Even after only watching two of his films, I'm starting to detect a definite theme in Aki Kaurismaki's works. LE HAVRE, a film which the director intended to be the first installment in a trilogy about life in port cities, tells the story of people in society who mostly get the mucky end of the stick, the fuzzy side of the lollipop, but they struggle on anyway, as best they can. What the hell else can they do? THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE would be an excellent addition to this trilogy.
LE HAVRE addresses the theme of refugees and underdogs in general also, and I'm already beginning to recognise Kaurismaki's distinctive style as understated and deadpan, with the characters conveying the humour not in an over-the-top, hit-you-over-the-head-with-it kind of way but in a much subtler way, which in a sense is even funnier.
Marcel Marx, the lead character in LE HAVRE, was actually also a character in Kaurismaki's 1992 film, LA VIE DE BOHÈME, the story of a painter, a playwright and a composer who struggle to make ends meet in Gay Paree. Well, we all know how easy it is to make a living in the arts, right...? Yeah, right. Easy my butt...!
Marcel Marx, played on both occasions by the same actor, Andre Wilms, would have been the playwright them, because when we meet him again in LE HAVRE, he's described as 'a former bohemian and struggling author' and it doesn't look as if he's come much farther since his gay bohemian days, to be honest.
He shines shoes for a 'living,' if you can call it that, and he and his worried wife Arletty seem to exist, like mice, on bread and cheese. Washed down with wine, of course. I love the way that the French always seem to be able to afford wine, even when they're on their uppers, lol.
Only a truly civilised country would know to always, always, make wine a priority. I should really go and live there myself some day, climb into a nice big vat of wine and never come out. That'd suit me nicely, that would. Beats boring old reality any day of the week.
I like the look of the Marxes' nice quiet life. Arletty just seems to live in the house and never go anywhere, but Marcel enjoys a convivial drink in the local pub and endless credit in the bread shop, run by Yvette, who seems to have a soft spot for him, the old rascal.
He's a bit of a loveable rogue, is Marcel, the kind of man who, as his 'friend' the local greengrocer says (when he's not avoiding Marcel like the plague, that is, to the point of pretending his shop is shut, even when Marcel can plainly see that it's open...!), 'would never let an unpaid bill keep him awake nights.' He gets by somehow, you know that kind of person? He almost kind of expects the Universe and the Good Lord to provide and, somehow, between the two of them, they always do.
One day, a day unlike no other, Marcel meets and befriends a little black boy called Idrissa who has come into the country illegally in a container with a load of other refugees. The scene where the security guard at the port goes along the outside of the containers, banging at them with a stick until he hears a baby cry on the inside, is a sad sign of the modern times, and this was a good six years ago. How much worse have things gotten since for the refugees?
Marcel undertakes to feed and shelter the boy while Arletty is in the hospital, with something seriously wrong with her. The boy, who is being pursued by the police, as he'd escaped from the container when it was opened, would like to make it to London where his mother is
believed to be. Marcel, with the help of Yvette from the bread shop, will do his damnedest to get the boy to where he wants to go.
Inspector Monet, the detective in charge of finding the missing boy, is a great character with a heart as big as all-outdoors. Somehow, because of his kind-hearted nature, we doubt if his efforts to find the boy will ever come to anything. I love when he buys the pineapple from the greengrocer, just to lend his support to the small businessman. He's a real gent.
Roberto Piazza, aka Little Bob, lead singer of the real-life French rock/rhythm 'n' blues band known simply as 'Little Bob,' is terrific as the star attraction at the 'charity concert' to raise money on the quiet to send little Idrissa to London. How do you raise money 'on the quiet' with a charity concert? Concerts aren't exactly, by their nature, quiet things...!
The little streets of Le Havre are quaint and winding. When you see Yvette, a 'Forties babe if ever there was one, standing outside her little bread shop with the baguettes in the window, you half-expect to see Nazis marching past with their rifles and their bayonets as well. The film, the port city itself, has such a retro feel to it that's lovely to watch.
Lovely, too, is the relationship between Marcel and the loyal, non-complaining Arletty. The miracle at the end is a bit unbelievable. I was all geared up for a big bawl into my hanky- I had it ready and everything!- but I was robbed. Robbed blind, I tells ya.
Other that that, LE HAVRE is a gorgeous film that can only enrich your life when you watch it, and you can take that to the bank, you can. The film has won critical acclaim and a load of awards, one of which even went to Laika the Golden Labrador from the Palm Dog Jury. Aw, if that ain't the cutest thing! A prize for dogs, which basically amounts to a prize for barking loudly and licking your own balls on-screen, haha. Still, ain't it sweet...?
The good news is that the jolly nice folks at CURZON: ARTIFICIAL EYE have just released an amazing 10-disc Blu-Ray box-set of Aki Kaurismaki's works. The box-set, which of course includes both LE HAVRE and the wonderful THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE, also contains a specially-commissioned 100-page booklet. Whaddya mean, on what? On whistles, dumbass...!
Here are the films included on this marvellous box-set:
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT- 1983.
CALAMARI UNION- 1985.
SHADOWS IN PARADISE- 1986.
DRIFTING CLOUDS- 1996. (ALSO INCLUDES SHORT FILM 'OO AINE IHMINEN'- 1996.)
HAMLET GOES BUSINESS- 1987.
LA VIE DE BOHÈME- 1992.
ARIEL- 1988.
THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL- 1990. (ALSO INCLUDES SHORT FILM 'VALIMO'- 2007.
LENINGRAD COWBOYS GO AMERICA- 1989.
LENINGRAD COWBOYS MEET MOSES- 1994.
TOTAL BALALAIKA SHOW- 1994. (DOCUMENTARY. INCLUDES THE SHORT FILMS: THESE BOOTS/ THOSE WERE THE DAYS/ THRU THE WIRE/ ROCKY 6/ RICH LITTLE BITCH/ DOGS HAVE NO HELL.)
TAKE CARE OF YOUR SCARF, TATJANA- 1994.
JUHA- 1999.
THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST- 2002.
LIGHTS IN THE DUSK- 2006.
LE HAVRE- 2011.
THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE- 2017.
Enjoy!
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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