Fallen Leaves

Aki Kaurismäki's latest film is an oddly affecting story of two ordinary people looking for something. I say ordinary but nothing in Kaurismäki's world is quite that, more like ordinary-adjacent, everything is a touch askew. Ansa (Alma Pöysti) lives alone and has a shite job in a supermarket. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) lives in what looks like a shipping container. He's also a secret alcoholic who works on a building site, AND he's the spitting image of Ooh-Ahh Glenn McGrath. These two lonely folk meet one night, barely, at a depressing karaoke night run by a local pub.

The rest of the film is pretty much the two of them meeting, or failing to meet one another. This sounds dull but there's something about Kaurismäki's style that allows the viewer's face to maintain a wry grin throughout. He's the deadest of pans, the straightest of bats, the most functional of directors. For example, Ansa sees an internet ad for a job at a bar. Cut to the sign of said bar to establish place. Nothing flashy, just basic film language.

The script is super dry and the performances are equally parched, especially Holappa's workmate, Huotari (Janne Hyytiäinen), he's responsible for most of the giggles. The central couple go on a date to a fantastically weird cinema - with posters for such films as Pierrot le Fou, Brief Encounter and Le Mepris on the walls outside. The film they actually see is The Dead Don't Die by Jim Jarmusch, a similarly deadpan director.

The people in the film, those in the California Bar in particular, look like extras from Kaurismäki's 80s & 90s films - still kicking along in eternal morbidity. It's a shock when we see two young singers in the regular bar. These sisters make up a Finnish band called Maustetyot, and their song (pictured below) is the one moment in the film where the tempo rises. It actually made me sit up in my seat.

Kaurismäki often plays an understated hand politically and he airs his views here by having news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the radio constantly. Compared with previous films - The Other Side of Hope, Le Havre - this seems like mere lip service but it does add to the malaise of the characters and the nihilism of their surroundings. All in all, this is a slight film that doesn't overstay its welcome but just dissolving into Aki's Finland for a while is a nice diversion.

Fallen Leaves is screening at UWA Somerville from Jan 8 - 14 as part of the Perth Festival.

See also:

A few belters from Kaurismäki: Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989), Total Balalaika Show (1994) and I Hired a Contract Killer (1990). All low-key gems.