Thoughts on Le Havre

    On Criterion, I watched Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki's 2011 comedy-drama set in the French port city of Le Havre, and starring Andre Wilms as Marcel Marx, a humble shoeshiner who lives a frugal life in a small house with his wife Arletty (Kati Outinen) and their dog. He used to want to be a literary author in Paris, but gave that up to live a more simple life on his meager earnings, enjoying the company of his wife and the patrons at his favorite bar. 

    When Arletty falls seriously ill, Marcel's path crosses with an adolescent African boy, Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), who traveled with other refugees in a giant cargo container by sea, and were caught by police, led by the inspector Monet (Jean-Pierre Darroussin). Idrissa is encouraged by his grandfather to make a run for it, and he evades the police, and ends up meeting Marcel by chance, who has sympathy for his situation and doesn't give him up to the police. He takes him in to hide in his home, and Marcel's friends agree to be a secret network to hide him too, sneaking Idrissa food and keeping him in the back of their shops. 

    Marcel is now juggling responsibilities of visiting his beloved wife in the hospital, whose condition is more serious but she doesn't want her husband to know it; hiding Idrissa from the authorities, and going through the refugee center system to track down Idrissa's grandfather to help him get to London to reunite with his mother.

    It's a really nice movie, that combines present-day politics of boat immigration of undocumented people coming to Europe from African nations, with this 1950s small-town whimsy that feels out of classic French cinema. Kaurismäki chose to name characters as homages to French cultural icons, like Arletty is named for the actress Arletty, who was a film star in the 1930s-1940s, and a doctor named Becker is named for the director Jacques Becker, whose 1940s films inspired the French New Wave directors. Marcel Marx was named for Karl Marx, and the character also appeared in Kaurismäki's 1992 film La vie de Boheme, also played by Wilms.

    The film also has this whole musical cameo and sequence by the French musician Little Bob, portraying himself and performing late in the film, and while it can feel different to have a whole concert going on in this one part, his R&B/blues rock style is really great and cool to listen to.

    There's a nice friendly chemistry between Marcel and Idrissa, who quickly trust each other, and Idrissa isn't a naive youth, but knows that he was supposed to land in London, got in Le Havre by mistake, and just wants to be reunited with his mother, as his father passed away, likely during the journey. He and Marcel develop a good bond and understanding, and while they only know each other a brief time, it's very meaningful and caring as they help each other out.