Le Havre
French comedy, winner of the International Critics Prize at Cannes 2011, following the friendship between a shoeshiner and an illegal immigrant boy.
"Marcel Marx, a former author and a well-known Bohemian, has retreated into a voluntary exile in the port city of Le Havre... he has buried his dreams of a literary breakthrough and lives happily within the triangle of his favourite bar, his shoe-shining work, and his wife Arletty, when fate suddenly throws in his path an underage immigrant refugee from darkest Africa.
"As Arletty at the same time gets seriously ill, Marcel has to rise against the cold wall of human indifference with his only weapon: innate optimism and the unwavering solidarity of the people of his quartier. Against him stands the whole blind machinery of the Western constitutionally governed state, this time represented by the dragnet of the police, moment by moment drawing closer around the refugee boy." (Cannes Film Festival 2011)
- Director:
- Aki Kaurismäki ('The Man Without A Past', 'I Hired A Contract Killer')
- Writer:
- Aki Kaurismäki
- Cast:
- André WilmsKati OutinenJean-Pierre DarroussinBlondin MiguelElina SaloEvelyne DidiQuoc-dung NguyenLaikaFrançois MonniéRoberto PiazzaPierre ÉtaixJean-Pierre Léaud
Reviews & comments
A comic and whimsical drama
Written and directed by Finland's Aki Kaurismaki, who is known for his use of low-key acting and simple story-telling. LE HAVRE definitely has both, and manages to focus on hope, solidarity and kindness while telling a sad yet common story of refugee. It is definitely a fantasy, and a charming and quirky one at that, full of references and winks to the old...
A Quirky Comedy
It's really hard to place this movie given that it has subtle black humor mingled with quirky, a very real drama, then absurd, and patches of a love story. As we left the theatre and walked out through the theatre, down the escalator and out onto the street you could hear the usual chatter from movie goers. What was different was the regular outbursts of...
Village Voice
pressLe Havre is utopian precisely because it shows everything as it is not.
Variety
pressMixing together some of helmer Aki Kaurismaki's favorite Gallic and Finnish thesps with a few newbies, Le Havre feels like a welcoming family reunion.
Total Film
pressKaurismäki adeptly weaves rockabilly musical interludes, a stylised colourscheme and droll performances into a warm-hearted salute to both classical French cinema and working-class solidarity.
The Washington Post
pressLe Havre is a playful parable that conveys profound truths about compassion, humility and sacrifice. It offers proof that miracles do happen - especially in Kaurismaki's lyrically hardscrabble neighborhood.
The New York Times
pressA stylized and sentimental fairy tale about the way the world might be, grounded in a frank recognition of the way it is.
Entertainment Weekly
pressThe setting is somewhere between a post-WWII Brigadoon and the environs of Marcel Carn classic "Children of Paradise," but the story is as timely as this morning's news from Europe.
Empire Magazine
pressIt may not be up there with his very best, but Aki Kaurismäki offers a reminder that he's a still one of the freshest voices in cinema.
Village Voice
pressLe Havre is utopian precisely because it shows everything as it is not.
Variety
pressMixing together some of helmer Aki Kaurismaki's favorite Gallic and Finnish thesps with a few newbies, Le Havre feels like a welcoming family reunion.
Total Film
pressKaurismäki adeptly weaves rockabilly musical interludes, a stylised colourscheme and droll performances into a warm-hearted salute to both classical French cinema and working-class solidarity.
The Washington Post
pressLe Havre is a playful parable that conveys profound truths about compassion, humility and sacrifice. It offers proof that miracles do happen - especially in Kaurismaki's lyrically hardscrabble neighborhood.
The New York Times
pressA stylized and sentimental fairy tale about the way the world might be, grounded in a frank recognition of the way it is.
Entertainment Weekly
pressThe setting is somewhere between a post-WWII Brigadoon and the environs of Marcel Carn classic "Children of Paradise," but the story is as timely as this morning's news from Europe.
Empire Magazine
pressIt may not be up there with his very best, but Aki Kaurismäki offers a reminder that he's a still one of the freshest voices in cinema.
A comic and whimsical drama
Written and directed by Finland's Aki Kaurismaki, who is known for his use of low-key acting and simple story-telling. LE HAVRE definitely has both, and manages to focus on hope, solidarity and kindness while telling a sad yet common story of refugee. It is definitely a fantasy, and a charming and quirky one at that, full of references and winks to the...
A Quirky Comedy
It's really hard to place this movie given that it has subtle black humor mingled with quirky, a very real drama, then absurd, and patches of a love story. As we left the theatre and walked out through the theatre, down the escalator and out onto the street you could hear the usual chatter from movie goers. What was different was the regular outbursts...
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