Illegal immigrants, border police and the threat of deportation? It sounds like a story ripped from U.S. news headlines or the latest presidential debate. But in Le Havre, the Cannes Film Festival favorite opening in Atlanta on Jan. 27, the immigrants are African and the setting is France.
As Le Havre opens, Marcel Marx (Andre Wilms) is going about his usual shoe-shining business in the port city of the film’s name. It’s hardly a glamorous lifestyle, with low wages and ongoing harassment from store owners, police and ornery customers, but Marcel has a droll manner and a strong network of friends to help him stay positive.
During the course of a few days, though, two events throw Marcel’s life into disarray: His loving wife Arletty (Kati Outinen) falls ill and is diagnosed with cancer, and he crosses paths with Idrissa (newcomer Blondin Miguel), a young African refugee on the run from authorities eager to boot him back home.
Marcel gives Idrissa some food and water, and before long he’s harboring him at his house and helping him in his efforts to reunite with his mom in London. The police, led by Inspector Monet (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), are hot on his trail. Will Marcel get Idrissa on a boat out of Le Havre? And with his wife ailing, what life does he have to look forward to anyway?
You might guess from the subject matter that Le Havre is a somber drama, but while it does have its share of pointed emotion and crackling tension, acclaimed Finnish writer/director Aki Kaurismaki invests the tale with a whimsical, fairy-tale quality.
The juxtaposition of darker subject matter and lighter tone isn’t the only interesting aspect of Le Havre. Despite the movie’s contemporary story, the characters and locale have an old-world feel. Marcel buys his bread and veggies from the shopkeepers down the street, mingles with the locals at a bar where everybody knows his name, and even enlists the help of an Elvis-like singer a few decades past his prime.
These unique contrasts give the story an energy and unpredictability that keeps you guessing how the plot will turn. And Kaurismaki’s command of script and visuals is matched by his work with the actors, all of whom deliver deeply humanistic, charismatic turns. Like a Fellini film, even the smallest roles are inhabited by actors with interesting faces and mannerisms.
Wilms is excellent in the lead role, balancing his character’s deadpan wit and self-effacing nature with a strong sense of empathy he reveals in small gestures. From watching him develop a paternal bond with Idrissa to seeing him trade barbs with the authorities, he’s a blast to watch.
With Le Havre, Kaurismaki has succeeded in putting a fresh spin on a timely story of political and moral crisis, and it’s easy to see why Finland selected it as its official entry to the 2012 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
Grade: B+
"Le Havre" opens in Atlanta on Jan. 27 at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.
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