Hojas de otoño

Finland's official submission for Best International Film. Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki (LE HAVRE, MAN WITHOUT A PAST) has been making his special brand of movies for some four decades now. FALLEN LEAVES is one of his best. Sporting his usual low key approach with clipped dialogue and an icy wit on par with a Scandinavian winter, Kaurismäki's latest takes the basic form of Romantic Comedy, but, of course, filtered through his sensibility.

A pair of lonely-hearts, Ansa (Alma Poysti) and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen), meet 'cute' at a Karaoke bar. Naturally, it isn't love at first sight, but, soon the resistance breaks and they go through the process of coming together, obstacles getting in their way and, eventually, fall in...well, sorta... - it's a Kaurismäki film.

What works so well here is the screenplay. Kaurismäki seems to have dissected his dialogue down to its most essential words. There isn't any excess. Nothing is said that doesn't need to be*. Yet, it remains a witty delight. The actors are on the same page and deliver their lines with essential succinctness, while never interfering with their physical performances - which are also spot on. Kaurismäki's genius is that even with so little said (or done), one still gets a full sense of his characters' lives. Oh, and the whole thing, including credits, is 82 minutes long.

The 66 year old Kaurismäki pays tribute here to Directors with their own inimitable style with references to Godard, Bresson and Jarmusch (stay tuned for the final kicker, which is a perfect capstone). He also uses pop tunes as a fine accent and amusingly names mundane drab holes in the wall joints with exotic monikers like Cafe California and Cafe Buenos Aires (not to mention warmer, too!).

On the surface FALLEN LEAVES may appear 'slight' - but, it's more meaningful than at first blush. It's a delightful film from a true original.

* In many ways, FALLEN LEAVES is a perfect film to introduce those with a hesitance to subtitles, since the dialogue is so sparse.

Ansa has been fired after the sell by, working in a supermarket time don't fly by, now she's lost and all alone, at least she has her little home, but she'd like to have someone, to share good times by. Holappa has been fired because he drinks, kind of guy who's world's eroded and just stinks, but he's fallen for a girl, it's put his head into a swirl, although the way things seem to go, you'd think he's jinxed. It's a story of two folk that come together, amid the backdrop of a war that seems to tether, as they do their best to miss, the opportunity for bliss, and start to live their lives, combined together.

For anyone who has never watched a Finnish comedy before, you may struggle with this one. The humour is a level more subtle than British comedy, so don't expect big slapstick laughs. The humour in Fallen Leaves lies mostly in the delivery from its characters, very understated and at times in contrast to the situations they find themselves in. Romance can come in many different guises and this film really showcases that. There are no grand sweeping gestures from our protagonists, instead just small moments and offerings; a cinnamon bun, a cup of coffee, a meal thoughtfully cooked. It's also desperately sad at times (I won't divulge why and give any spoilers) but I believe it opens up at the end to true optimism. Very unique little film in today's industry.

A film brimming with charm, thanks to its human characters, struggling in their own way to make a living. She's a cashier, moving from job to job. She owns her own apartment. He's a manual laborer who works in a factory, but drinks. And he goes from job to job. They cross paths. They're both alone. They're drawn to each other. Girl meets boy. Boy meets girl. They're both shy. But there will be grains of sand in the mechanics of their relationship. Aki Kaurismäki doses the construction of this couple perfectly.

Aki Kaurismäki sprinkles his film with references (Jean-Luc Godard, George A. Romero, for example). The result is a short film, and all the better for it. There are no unnecessary sequences here. There's no extra-diegetic music. Without going too fast, Aki Kaurismäki builds the love story between the characters. A film to warm the heart.

I'm not here to write a full review but just to share one observation. The Finland in picture is not real, neither it is a Finland of the past, despite of artifacts from the 70s and 40s. It is a Finland of proletariat, an allusion to what was once and could possibly still return. The colors, the fashion, the rhythm, and the certain quality of post production of the film is deliberately made to look like old Soviet cinema (perhaps). I grew up in Soviet Union, so immediately recognize that aesthetics, as well as the reality of the depressed suburbs, omnipresent alchoholism, and the worst kind of proletariat reality, where people are neither given a setting for developing nor being in any way protected. The war in Ukraine is an actor of the film as well. It is present from the opening scene and on - some listen to it, some switch the channel off, but it constantly comes back to interact with the characters. The film might be, among other things, a commentary on the reality that modern-day russia represents. Also interesting that the main male characters are delusional as in wanting to be something they are not on multiple occasions (Holapa's friend wanting to be young or a singer-superstar signing large contracts, or Holappa himself claiming he could easily be a "cool guy" if only he wanted to). It is certainly about us all, and how much delusional hopes are a part of human condition. Yet these become paramount, a desperate means for escape, in a world where people are living in poverty and with little means for self-actualization. Of course there is also this scene when Anse comes to the hospital to read to Holappa and sits down onto a chair painted in blue and yellow, but that might be already a bit of a stretch to think this might symbolize ukraine fighting to get whatever Holappa represents out of darkness and into the world of hope. Overall it's a charming feel-good movie, classically Kaurismaki.