The films of the Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki (Le Havre, The Man Without a Past) rank alongside abandoned teddy bears strapped to the bumpers of bin lorries and really ugly dogs in rehoming centres as the most melancholy things in the world. And his latest, Fallen Leaves, is no exception. Themes in this tragicomic romance include chronic alcoholism, job loss, isolation and despair. The soundtrack features ballads about inclement weather, disappointment and cemeteries (with special emphasis on disappointing, rain-lashed cemeteries). What’s remarkable, though, is dour though it is, this is an unexpectedly uplifting film. With its droll, deadpan humour and poignant central story of two lonely souls connecting, it’s the closest Kaurismäki gets to a feelgood movie (albeit a feelgood movie with incipient liver failure).
The setting is modern-day Helsinki; however, through music choices and a handsome, if slightly defeated-looking retro colour palette, we are given the sense of a city still nursing the hangover of the mid 20th century. Ansa (Alma Pöysti) works in a supermarket, before she loses her job for taking a pack of out-of-date cheese. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) is a metalworker, before he loses his for drinking. A chance encounter at a karaoke bar leads to a tentative courtship. They share few words, but the silences are filled with longing. Happiness, though, is hard-won in the films of Kaurismäki, and fate conspires against them. Holappa struggles to see a future beyond his drinking; Ansa adopts an apologetic-looking stray dog. But there’s hope, delivered with a disarming wink – a near-perfect moment in this understated charmer of a film.
