Film story: Le Havre

Le Havre
(France, 2011, Directed by Aki Kaurismaki)

(I have to apologise for the the trailer inserted above. Funnily enough, I couldn't find a French trailer or an English trailer or one with English subtitles, so I ended up settling for German trailer.)

Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

In one word: Heart-warming


Ramble: This was one of the best film of the several that I was lucky enough to see at this year's Melbourne International film festival (MIFF). From viewing the trailer that was put on the official MIFF website (Not the one above this review. I picked a better trailer than the MIFF people :D), I would have thought this was a comedy. While there were many genuinely humourous scenes, Le Havre proved to be much more than just a bunch of laughs. The plot was interesting and the characters were unique and quirky. All in all, it was a very charming French film.

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The story begins with a French man named Marcel Marx, a struggling author who has recently relocated with his wife, Arletty, to the port town of Le Havre. He lives a very simple life, working as a shoe-shiner, spending time with his wife and going out to the local pub for a drink with the townsfolk. 


His daily routine is interrupted, however, when his wife falls ill and needs to stay in hospital for a prolonged period of time. While eating lunch by himself at the port one day, Marcel meets Idrissa, an African refugee who is hiding from French authorities and seeking a route to England to reunite with his mother. Feeling sympathetic for the child, Marcel sets out to help Idrissa get to England. But can he do it with Monet, the private inspector hot on his trail?

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I was moved by the story and impressed with the use of comedy, and with the performances of all the participating actors, in particular Andre Wilms who played the main role. Wilms' was able to portray a warm and thoughtful character, who delivered comedic lines with the right amount of 'innocence' and seriousness that you couldn't help but laugh until you were sore. Monet (Jean-Pierre Dorroussin) and Chang (Quoc Dung Nguyen) also provided quite a few memorable laughs.


In terms of the story, I felt that the script was well-written, with each scene contributing to character or plot development. I did find the glimpses into Marcel and Arletty's loving-but-awkward-and-routine relationship confusing at the beginning and in some ways, I wonder if it could have been explained more explicitly. However, I suspect that this sets the base for Marcel's relationship with Idrissa (My personal analysis: Marcel was the child in the relationship with his wife, and his regret for not taking as much care of her as he should have, made him want to take on the role as a father figure to Idrissa.)

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The interaction between the timid Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) and Marcel are the real heartwarming and sentimental parts of this story. It is a pleasure to see Marcel and his quirky neighbours band together to help a child that is essentially a stranger to them. The lengths they go to in order to ensure that he achieves his goal leave you feeling warm and fuzzy about society. Seriously.


As a film about the the importance of relationships and friendships, this is definitely a feel-good film to be enjoyed with loved ones :)

Film story: Jess+Moss

Life, to me, is one big story with little stories in it. In this blog, I'm going to look at all the little stories that add colour to my life. I'll divide my reviews and comments into little story sections to help classify my entries. I hope you'll forgive my bad writing too as it's been aaaaaages since I wrote anything worth reading :s


Anyway, as I work in an interesting cinema space and enjoy watching movies, I'll be reviewing quite a few films on this blog. I thought I'd start with Jess+Moss, which is a great little indie film doing the rounds at all the major film festivals at the moment. It was played just today at ACMI as part of the Melbourne International Film Festivals.

Jess + Moss
(USA, 2011, Directed by Clay Jeter)

Stars: ★ ★ ★ 


In one word: Experimental


Ramble: I first came across Jess+Moss when I was looking at the film guide for the Melbourne International Film festival (MIFF). I was trying to decide which film I should use my free pass on and this one made it through the first cut, but not to the last - I ended up using the pass to see Submarine (another fantastic film that I shall write about in the near future.) But lucky for me, this was one of the films I got to usher at work today for MIFF, so I ended up watching it!

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The first thing I thought as the credits rolled, was that this film was simply beautiful. A sequence of soft, pastel vignettes, this film lingers on the innocent, idle and dream-like state of adolescence, as well as its darker moments of confusion, lonliness and despair. It explores the idea of memory, with scenes set in a predominantly non-linear sequence and dialogues frequently repeated to establish that the film we view is a glimpse into Jess and Moss' memories of a lonely Summer together, where they grow in the strange absence of relatives and close friends.


Shot on 30 varieties of 16mm film stock, the cinematography for this film is fantastic. It is one of the most aesthetically pleasing films I've seen this year. What you see on screen leaves you feeling nostalgic for the wonders of youth and sad about the possible alternatives that both characters could have had. I'd like to add that the soundtrack does a good job of bringing out these feelings with its soft and echo-y choice of sound and music.

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In terms of narrative, the film is very slow to come to any solid conclusion about either character. Jess is painted as the darker, more complex character of the two. Her actions made me feel rather uncomfortable at times and I wasn't the only one - a number of people walked out of the cinema after watching some of her more controversial scenes and did not come back. Moss, on the other hand, was a very pleasant character to watch with his innocent, gentle ideas about life.


Rather than a story, this film operates as a mood piece, taking us back to a time of confusion and blurred lines. This subtle story is visually stunning, with wonderful cinematography and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mood pieces.

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Should I go? Yes: Well worth the watch, for its beautiful nostalgic feel and its exploration of lonliness, alienation and the stretches of memory that haunt our lives.


No: This might not be your thing if you're impatient and don't like mood pieces, slow, subtle narratives, open endings and themes that may be suggestive. There were a lot of hipsters in the cinema too...


You'll like this if you liked: The Virgin Suicides, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind