Fallen Leaves
Melancholy tragicomedy by Aki Kaurismäki (Le Havre) about two lonely souls who meet during a booze-fuelled night in Helsinki. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes.
Two lonely people meet by chance in nocturnal Helsinki. He is an alcoholic metal worker who has just been fired; she is an ex-shelf filler. Although they barely exchange a word, they both think they have finally met the love of their lives. But after their first meeting, he loses her phone number, and they don’t know each other’s name or address. And life has a general tendency to place obstacles in the way of those seeking happiness.
This melancholic tragicomedy is typical of the work of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki (THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST, DRIFTING CLOUDS). FALLEN LEAVES incorporates everything that makes his work so unique: a mix of Chaplin, melancholy jukebox music and stoic Finns uttering dryly comic one-liners with a straight face – and a drink too many. And of course this film is also about love, because love is what the world needs. At the Cannes Film Festival, the Finn – who, like the characters in his films, enjoys a drink or two – announced that he will make his next film with the same actors: ‘Because I accidentally promised them that; I would rather swap them.’ (mv)