Le Havre
When Loris asked me about my impressions of the film, my surprise was the first thing that came to mind. Besides the segment in “Ten Minutes Older”, I have never actually seen anything by Kaurismäki, but I knew that both Loris and 314 liked him as a director. I don’t know why that is, but my imagination of Kaurismäki films goes into the direction of neorealism Finnish style. Instead, “Le Havre” was a fairytale in French about solidarity and friendship. What just happened?
In fact, I seem to be watching a lot of fairytales these days, and every time I am caught by surprise. Sure, most movies are not ‘realistic’ and/or they have Hollywood-like happy-ends, but the concept of fairytale goes much deeper. In a film like “Le Havre”, there are no real villains, only kind-hearted and helpful people populate the scene. The fact that Laika is such a cute dog contributes to this warm and fuzzy impression. Also, nothing bad truly happens whatsoever – even the wife had to survive her cancer miraculously. Luckily the film manages to carry itself with grace, and the fairytale-like elements never appear dumb. As unrealistic as these characters may be, they certainly feel real.
One thing I really appreciate about the film is the fact that Kaurismäki does the anti-Woody-Allen thing. While Woody Allen apparently travels around Europe to appease his wife’s lust for luxury good shopping, Kaurismäki acknowledges that there are more cities in France than Paris. Due to the incredible Paris-centeredness in France, your typical foreign movie would never go out of that city except for the Mediterranean sea. Even French films are very focused on Paris, with the Ch’tis being rather the exception than the norm. In that respect, “Le Havre” can indeed be seen as a tribute to the city itself which is portrayed as small and pretty in this film.
I can’t say that I was thoroughly impressed by the film (what is there to be impressed about really?), but it was a sweet experience and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a feel good movie.
PS. I am totally in love with Jean-Pierre Léaud as the bitter neighbor. I think he is literally just playing himself.