The droll, darkly comedic worlds of Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki are an acquired taste. His working class characters deliver their dialogue in a highly stylized deadpan, cutting gravely serious words with a humorous edge. Oftentimes his stories involve laborers in unenvious positions – more times than not they even lose this job, making their position seem even more hopeless. This high contrast between light and dark is what has defined Kaurismaki for the last forty years. To those unfamiliar, his films can seem like the worst Wes Anderson parody you’ve ever seen in your life; but when his films succeed, like his latest one Fallen Leaves, you’re privy to highly original storyteller, with a truly unique take on love and life.
Leaves is a love story about two victims of the dire economic situation in Helsinki. Ansa (Alma Poysti) works irregular hours in a supermarket, stocking shelves and sorting recycling. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) works in construction and is a full-blown alcoholic. When they meet briefly in a karaoke bar, there is an instant connection, but various incidents and misunderstandings keep them apart. A lot of the humor and the drama in Fallen Leaves comes in the way Kaurismaki contrives to stop them from connecting – phone numbers twist in the wind, names are failed to exchange, poorly timed train arrivals. Even when they are together, Holappa’s alcoholism, and Ansa’s staunch aversion to it, threatens to disrupt their budding romance.
Because it’s Kaurismaki, you spend a good amount of the film bracing for tragedy, but it’s to the filmmaker’s credit that he both delivers on that reputation while still surprising with one of the more delightfully cheerful films of his career. Kaurismaki is probably the most known and respected director to come from Finland, a country known mostly exclusively for its stark weather, drab atmosphere, and being the home hub of the tech company, Nokia. Kaurismaki’s films pay credence to the nation’s morose predisposition. Fallen Leaves is a welcome respite, a movie that both acknowledges the bleakness of contemporary existence, while recognizing the fulfillment that comes with love and connection. I’ve never been much of a Kaurismaki fan, but this was truly a delight.
Written and Directed by Aki Kauriskami