Film Review - Le Havre - Business Review

Times are tough in Le Havre. Ageing bohemian Marcel (Andre Wilms) has abandoned any pretensions to a literary career and now ekes out a meager living shining shoes to support his fragile wife Arletty (Kati Outinen) and fund the odd glass of wine in the local bar.

Debbie Stowe

But while Marcel and his neighbors are hard-up, they’re not hard-hearted. When he happens upon an African boy, Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), on the run from the authorities after the container in which he was being smuggled to England was intercepted, the community rallies round to hide the lad from the officers of the inscrutable Inspector Monet (Jean-Pierre Darroussin).

The contemporary immigration theme is at odds with the cinematic tone. Though events are clearly set in recent times, the combined impact of the narrative, characters, costumes, cars and direction lends Le Havre the atmosphere of a much older film, and the opening scenes seem almost Hitchcockian. But the film soon settles into a less stylized work, a conventional tale of a close-knit community working together to thwart the jack-booted cops. Although if Le Havre’s law enforcers are jack-booted, they usually wipe them before they enter and search the premises: this is a gentle film. Through the deft direction of Finnish helmsman Aki Kaurismäki, the high tension of the manhunt for Idrissa intertwines naturally with the simple comedy of the townsfolk’s attempts to help him.

Pulling it all together is a masterful performance from Wilms. A sixty-something shoeshiner and frequent debtor who once dreamed of literary greatness could have easily become a loserish figure of fun. But even before his selfless quest to help Idrissa, Wilms invests Marcel with a quiet dignity, almost nobility, through an understated yet commanding turn.

A similar thing is going on with other characters, notably the highly strung Arletty and superannuated local rocker Little Bob (Roberto Piazza). We laugh with, not at, Kaurismäki’s creations, and the director pitches the pathos to maintain our respect for them. As the trilby and trench coat-clad antagonist Monet, Darroussin strikes the right sinister notes without overplaying it.

With its old-fashioned atmosphere and a standard plot that develops rather predictably, Le Havre veers close to soap opera territory. This homage to neo-realism contains no surprises, so may not please viewers seeking novelty. But it’s a charming and ultimately uplifting movie, with a warmth than more than makes up for what it lacks in artistic risk. It would take a stony heart to remain unmoved by this humane story of solidarity with outsiders, a Finn’s take on the very French themes of liberty, equality and fraternity.