LE HAVRE
Director: Aki Kaurismäki Run Time: 94 min. Release Year: 2011 Language: French
Starring: André Wilms, Blondin Miguel, Elina Salo, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Kati Outinen
In this warmhearted comic yarn from Aki Kaurismäki, fate throws the young African refugee Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) into the path of Marcel Marx (André Wilms), a kindly old bohemian who shines shoes for a living in the French harbor city Le Havre. With inborn optimism and the support of his tight-knit community, Marcel stands up to the officials doggedly pursuing the boy for deportation. A political fairy tale that exists somewhere between the reality of contemporary France and the classic French cinema of the past, Le Havre is a charming, deadpan delight and one of the Finnish director’s finest films.