Le Havre (film)

Plot

Marcel Marx, a former bohemian and struggling author, has given up his literary ambitions and relocated to the port city Le Havre. He leads a simple life based around his wife Arletty, his favourite bar and his not too profitable profession as a shoeshiner. As Arletty suddenly becomes seriously ill, Marcels path crosses with an underage illegal immigrant from Africa. Marcel and friendly neighbors and other townspeople help to hide him from the police. The police inspector may, or may not, be hot on their heels.

Cast

Production

Kaurismaki had the idea of a film about an African child who arrives in Europe three years before the production started. His original intention was to set the story on the Mediterranean coast, preferably in Italy or Spain, but he had difficulties finding a suitable city. According to Kaurismaki, he "drove through the whole seafront from Genoa to Holland", and eventually settled on Le Havre in northern France, which attracted him with its atmosphere and music scene.

The script was written in the summer 2009. The names of several characters were chosen as homages to French film icons, such as Arletty and Jacques Becker. The name of the lead character, Marcel Marx, was inspired by Karl Marx. The character had previously appeared in Kaurismakis 1992 film La Vie de Boheme, where he also was played by Andre Wilms. The character Monet was inspired by Porfiry Petrovich, the detective from Fyodor Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishment.

The budget was 3.8 million euro and included 750,000 euro in support from the Finnish Film Foundation. Kaurismakis company Sputnik was the main producer, with Finnish broadcaster YLE, Frances Pyramide Productions and Germanys Pandora Film as co-producers. The local rock singer Little Bob was cast in the film; Kaurismaki said that "Le Havre is the Memphis, Tennessee of France and Little Bob a.k.a. Roberto Piazza is the Elvis of this Kingdom as long as Johnny Hallyday stays in Paris and even then it would be a nice fight." Filming started 23 March and ended 12 May 2010.

Release

Le Havre premiered on 17 May 2011 in competition at the 64th Cannes Film Festival. It was the fourth time a film by Kaurismaki competed at the festival, after Drifting Clouds, The Man Without a Past and Lights in the Dusk. The Finnish premiere is set to 9 September 2011 through Future Film Distribution. Pyramide Distribution will release it in France on 21 December. Janus Films acquired the American distribution rights.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a "fresh" score of 99% based on reviews from 71 critics.

Leslie Felperin wrote in Variety: "Its all rather jolly and slight, and certainly doesnt break any new ground for the Finnish auteur, even though it foregrounds more influences than usual from French filmmakers like Marcel Carne (obvious, given the protagonists names), Jean-Pierre Melville, Robert Bresson and others. But on its own terms, Le Havre is a continual pleasure, seamlessly blending morose and merry notes with a deftness thats up there with Kaurismakis best comic work." Felperin complimented the craft of Kaurismakis regular cinematographer Timo Salminen and editor Timo Linnasalo, and wrote: "Its like listening to a band thats been cheerfully churning it out for years, whose members all know each others timings inside out, not unlike onscreen performers Little Bob and his grizzled, perfectly in-sync crew."

Accolades

The film received the FIPRESCI Prize for best film at the Cannes Film Festival. It also received a Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury. The dog Laika received a special Jury Prize from the Palm Dog jury. The film went on to win the top prize for best international film at the 2011 Munich International Film Festival. It was selected as a nominee for the European Parliaments Lux Prize. The film was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. Le Havre also won the Gold Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival.