Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki is one of the few film makers who have created their own cinematographic universe. Just like a film by David Lynch or Pedro Aldomovar, a Kaurismäki movie has its own rules, its own characteristics, often even its own actors who appear in every film.
His movies usually have a very simple storyline. They are about ordinary people leading ordinary lives in which not very much happens. The understated humor, the deadpan characters, the retro feeling and the lack of any exuberance are typical of his films and, so it seems, typical of the Fins.
So it's a surprise that this new film is not set in Helsinki, but in Le Havre, the French port city. It would seem that the Scandinavian matter-of-factness and the French joie-de-vivre are difficult to mix, but the opposite is true. This film is as much a typical Kaurismäki as his Helsinki films are.
The main character is Marcel, a shoeshine man who by coincidence meets an African refugee boy who is on the run from the authorities. Out of pity, he helps the boy to hide. The police suspect that Marcel knows more about the boy's whereabouts.
One of the nice things about Kaurismäki is that he likes things to be as they should be. A camera has a large flash bulb on top of it. A French police detective wears a hat and a long black coat. A telephone has a rotary dial. Another thing that distinguishes his films is the use of colour. The colours are very beautiful and saturated, especially in the night scenes. He has a fondness of blue: there are blue walls in Marcel's home, in the bar, in the hospital and in the refugee centre. Another nicety is the timeless character of his world. His films have an old-fashioned feeling over them, and there are almost no modern things like cellphones. The cars are usually old, but from different periods, and in the background you can see modern cars.
The scenes from Kaurismäki's films are like paintings by Edward Hopper: timeless, melancholic, and very carefully constructed.
His movies usually have a very simple storyline. They are about ordinary people leading ordinary lives in which not very much happens. The understated humor, the deadpan characters, the retro feeling and the lack of any exuberance are typical of his films and, so it seems, typical of the Fins.
So it's a surprise that this new film is not set in Helsinki, but in Le Havre, the French port city. It would seem that the Scandinavian matter-of-factness and the French joie-de-vivre are difficult to mix, but the opposite is true. This film is as much a typical Kaurismäki as his Helsinki films are.
The main character is Marcel, a shoeshine man who by coincidence meets an African refugee boy who is on the run from the authorities. Out of pity, he helps the boy to hide. The police suspect that Marcel knows more about the boy's whereabouts.
One of the nice things about Kaurismäki is that he likes things to be as they should be. A camera has a large flash bulb on top of it. A French police detective wears a hat and a long black coat. A telephone has a rotary dial. Another thing that distinguishes his films is the use of colour. The colours are very beautiful and saturated, especially in the night scenes. He has a fondness of blue: there are blue walls in Marcel's home, in the bar, in the hospital and in the refugee centre. Another nicety is the timeless character of his world. His films have an old-fashioned feeling over them, and there are almost no modern things like cellphones. The cars are usually old, but from different periods, and in the background you can see modern cars.
The scenes from Kaurismäki's films are like paintings by Edward Hopper: timeless, melancholic, and very carefully constructed.