Review of Le Havre (2011) by Adam S — 13 Aug 2014

"Le Havre" is a very artsy movie, which was obviously made with a lot of care, but I think you need to be in a particular mood to get any enjoyment out of it.

The story follows a bohemian shoeshiner who comes across a troubled African immigrant who is trying to find his mother in London. The problem - the child immigrated illegally and ended up in a French village, rather than the British supercity. With the police hot on their tail, and the man's wife suffering in a hospital, the town pulls together to get this child home.

And you know what, that's very uplifting and all, but there's no real surprises (aside from one notable one right at the end, which still doesn't feel like too much of a payoff). It just feels like this movie sacrificed potential to be a very interesting film, in exchange for a Wes Anderson-esque whimsy, and it just seemed to be missing something.

It's a shame, because it's been so highly rated on this site, and there is certainly a huge reputation for director Aki Kaurismaki, but I just couldn't get into the film. Some piece was missing. I don't know if it was just me, but this was nothing more than a nice little bit of forgettable fluff.