Le Havre: Movie Review

Le Havre: Movie Review

Cast: Andre Wilms, Kati Outinen, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Blondin Miguel
Director: Aki Kaurismaki

A winner of a Cannes prize in 2011, Le Havre is an oddball of a film.

It's the story of an aged shoeshiner, Marcel Marx, who lives in the port city of Le Havre. Marx lives a quieter life with his wife Arietty and his dog. His life is a simple one; it revolves around walking the dog, doing his job and visiting the local pub.

But when a group of illegal immigrants show up at the port at the same time as Marx's wife falls seriously ill, Marcel comes across an African young boy, who's a refugee who's escaped the police and the authorities at the port.

So, despite everything in his brain telling him otherwise, Marx decides to harbour the boy.

With the police and authorities closing in, it's not clear that Marcel and the boy will get away with their scheme...

Le Havre is a Finnish directed curio which is joyously simple both in style and story.

It's also incredibly old fashioned in its look and feel but it's also quite touching in many ways; Wilms has old school cinema appeal as an actor and also for the audience to get a hook in. With Kaurismaki's lingering camera holding on actors longer than their scenes, the feel of the flick does take a little while to get used to. But it's very rewarding once you sit back and let this film, saturated as it is with oddball moments, wash over you.

Le Havre is a reminder sometimes that simplistic film making is perhaps the hardest to achieve; it's a feelgood film which is fresh and different - a reminder that cinema going is a pleasant treat every time.

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