Campbell River Festival of Films: Le Havre

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Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
7:00 PM

Cast: Kati Outinen, André Wilms, Jean-Pierre Darroussin. Run Time: 93 minutes Country: Finland Year: 2011

No other contemporary filmmaker manages to blend deadpan, ironic humour with social commentary in quite the same manner as Finnish master. An official selection of the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival®, Le Havre has received overwhelming critical acclaim, and has recently been named Finland's submission for Best Foreign Language Film for the 84th Academy Awards®. Atmospheric, quiet and completely assured, Kaurismäki tells a highly contemporary story about illegal refugees, a subject of immediate relevance in today's Europe. The film circles around Marcel Marx, a warm, aging bohemian artist who has retreated to the French port city of Le Havre and taken up work as a shoeshine man - a profession with a limited future, as everyone seems to be wearing running shoes. He is married to a woman with a heart of gold and, despite their poverty and limited means, he finds joy in their local neighbours, all of whom seem as if they have emerged intact from a 1930s movie. One day, Marcel befriends Idrissa, a young African immigrant hoping to make his way to England in a shipping container with other illegals. Marcel is determined to extend a helping hand to the wide-eyed boy.