'Le Havre' review

André Wilms and Blondin Miguel (Credit: Janus Films)

Metromix picks: Best new movies

All the recent recommended releases

Marcel Marx (André Wilms) is a self-described bohemian and shoeshiner in the seaside town of Le Havre, France. A chance encounter with young African refugee Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) inspires Marcel to hide the boy from authorities looking to deport him. The decision brings out the best in Marcel’s neighbors and his ailing wife Arletty (Kati Outinen).

The buzz: Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki (2003 Oscar nominee “The Man Without a Past”) was in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival with this French language fairy tale, and won the FIPRESCI Prize for best film voted on by international critics. It’s Finland’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

The verdict: Kaurismäki delivers a stylistic and thematic tribute to French cinematic icons like Marcel Carné and Jean-Pierre Melville with the sort of deadpan humor contemporary audiences associate with the Coen Brothers, Jim Jarmusch and Wes Anderson. Unlike those frequently unsentimental filmmakers of today, there’s a noticeably soft edge here. While it’s clear “Le Havre” isn’t meant to reflect reality, it is intended to warm hearts and possibly expand minds (specifically on the topic of France’s treatment of refugees). That’s nice enough as an antidote to trendy arthouse nihilism, but the deliberately arch remove opens up a too-safe distance from the story’s gushy emotional core. Despite some wryly amusing dialogue, charming performances from veteran pros Wilms and Outinen, and a literally show-stopping rockabilly number from real local music legend “Little Bob,” Kaurismäki’s whimsical tone remains so breezy that once the film ends, it simply drifts away.

Did you know? Kaurismäki intends to follow “Le Havre” with two more films set in port cities in Spain and Germany, also filmed in the local languages.

Follow Metromix's Geoff Berkshire on Twitter: @geoffberkshire