Jack and I liked this story of an old shoe-shiner taking in a young African refugee in the French coastal town of the title. Finnish director/writer Aki Kaurismäki (I loved The Man Without a Past (2002) and would like to see more after reading this) combines droll wit and drama as 60-something Marcel, played by André Wilms (a Frenchman with 61 titles to his credit, he has worked with Kaurismäki five times before) hides ten-year-old Idrissa (Blondin Miguel, in his film debut) from the authorities. Finnish actress Kati Outinen (as soon as she spoke her first sentence I could tell that French wasn't her first language) is another Kaurismäki regular, and her deadpan delivery is quite good.
In a sly nod to French cinema, Jean-Pierre Léaud, best known as Antoine Doinel in The 400 Blows (1959) and five other movies also directed by the iconic François Truffaut, has a cameo. Since we saw this movie two and a half weeks ago, it has grown on me. As usual imdb hasn't provided any soundtrack info, nor does the press kit, but what I do remember of the music is the appearance of a blues musician named "Little Bob" (AKA Roberto Piazza), who apparently is famous around Le Havre. This was Finland's official submission for the Foreign-Language Oscars, but it didn't make it, though the National Board of Review named it one of their top five Foreign Language Films and it was nominated for a Critics' Choice Award. It has a 98% fresh rating from critics on rottentomatoes, with 75% from audiences. The DVD release isn't set yet, but it will be good for a giggle whenever you can see it.
No comments:
Post a Comment