Review: ‘Le Havre’

Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki has a delightfully deadpan comedic style, and never has it been used better than in this charming film set in the French port town of Le Havre. 

Always a champion of the underdog (Kaurismaki’s last film, The Man Without a Past, detailed the lives of people living in shipping containers), this film focuses on Marcel, an aging shoeshiner who has a way with the ladies. He spends much of his time evading irate shopkeepers.

When the police are called to investigate the sound of voices coming from a container on the dock, they discover whole families cowering inside. One young boy slips away and the police gear up to find him, but Marcel gets there first, giving him food and money to help him escape.

The whole neighborhood pitches in to help the boy, and various community members’ stories overlap as they work together, creating a kind of utopia in this depressed backstreet area of the port.

Despite some heavy themes, this is probably the purest children’s film ever made. There is no cynicism because the viewpoint of the child we’re seeing events through has not yet been tarnished. Goodhearted, charming, serious and funny, this is the kind of film that will please even the most demanding crowd. I loved it.

8/10