After premiering at Cannes and winning the festival’s top top Fipresci award, Le Havre has now been deemed eligible as a Finnish production. Aki Kaurismäki has lifted his self-imposed ban on Academy participation and Le Havre looks to be the likely choice as Finland’s official Oscar submission this year. In her review May 17, Sasha said Le Havre “renews our faith in the goodness of human beings.”
What’s so enjoyable about this film is that Kaurismäki has such a light touch with this heavy subject. What it also shows is something I’ve come to discover of late: the fundamental kindness of the French people generally in this region, the South of France…
Like so many films here Le Havre offers up an ending that is open to interpretation. Even if good deeds are done by men and women, there are some things beyond our individual capacity to fix – it takes something like a miracle to fix those. How you read the ending here will depend on whether or not you believe in miracles.
(Thanks to our pal Tero Heikkinen!)
Looking forward to catching that film – hopefully the local theater that picks up indie flicks will get this one. Acting and cinematography look superb, and I love that line “I’m the albino in the family” from the trailer!
Looking forward to catching that film – hopefully the local theater that picks up indie flicks will get this one. Acting and cinematography look superb, and I love that line “I’m the albino in the family” from the trailer!
From Nordic countries, Norway is the first to have chosen their submission.
Sykt lykkelig (Happy, Happy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DrrJ-yJ0Uc
From Nordic countries, Norway is the first to have chosen their submission.
Sykt lykkelig (Happy, Happy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DrrJ-yJ0Uc
It looks really good!
It also reminds me of a French film called “Welcome,” in which a swimming instructor in Calais befriends an illegal Kurdish boy who wants to go to London.
Oh…and to correct Sasha’s opening comment, Le Havre is not in the south of France, it’s in northwestern France, on the Atlantic Coast south of England.
Bill_the_Bear — Sasha was writing that review from Cannes, and I believe was associating her present-tense experience with the kindness of French people she met there in May to a broader point she was making about the French in every region.
My fault for breaking off that paragraph with ellipsis. In the very next sentence Sasha compares the relaxed provincial areas of France to Paris.
It looks really good!
It also reminds me of a French film called “Welcome,” in which a swimming instructor in Calais befriends an illegal Kurdish boy who wants to go to London.
Oh…and to correct Sasha’s opening comment, Le Havre is not in the south of France, it’s in northwestern France, on the Atlantic Coast south of England.
Bill_the_Bear — Sasha was writing that review from Cannes, and I believe was associating her present-tense experience with the kindness of French people she met there in May to a broader point she was making about the French in every region.
My fault for breaking off that paragraph with ellipsis. In the very next sentence Sasha compares the relaxed provincial areas of France to Paris.
And no… USA has NOT pulled the military forces from Iraq. So I don’t know what the hell he means there. I still think Le Havre will be in the Top 9, but its chances of winning are pretty slim. Academy are not into people who are critical towards them or US politics. Right?
And no… USA has NOT pulled the military forces from Iraq. So I don’t know what the hell he means there. I still think Le Havre will be in the Top 9, but its chances of winning are pretty slim. Academy are not into people who are critical towards them or US politics. Right?
Loosely translated from Helsinki’s biggest newspaper:
Acedemic Aki Kaurismäki has ended his personal Oscar-boycott that lasted for years. Le Havre is the favorite to be submitted from the 25 Finnish feature films that have been released domestically during October 2010 through September 2011.
“We have asked from the film’s distributor, and Le Havre is allowed to be submitted”, says Chairman Tero Koistinen from the Jury that selects the Finnish nominee.
Kaurismäki set USA to his “personal boycott” in the Spring of 2003.
“Since United States of America now has a Democratic President, and its military forces have been pulled out from Iraq, there’s no reason for boycott anymore, and I see no obstacle in submitting Le Havre if Finland chooses to do so”, Kaurismäki writes for Helsinki Sanomat.
Kaurismäki, 54, has been avoiding the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In the Fall of 2002 he agreed to submitting The Man Without a Past in order to help its American distribution. The film was the first Finnish motion picture to be nominated in the category of Best Foreign Language Film, but Kaurismäki still refused to attend the ceremonies. The cultural minister at the time, Kaarina Dromberg begged the director to attend.
“We can not attend the Oscar ceremonies while United States is preparing to commit a criminal act towards humanity for shameless personal economic reasons”, Kaurismäki wrote to Academy in March 2003. The war in Iraq was just around the corner.
In the Fall of 2006 the headlines returned when his motion picture Lights in the Dusk was submitted by Finland without asking permission from the director. Afterwards Kaurismäki denied the submission and due to “expiration date”, Finland was forced to have a no-show at the Oscars.
Loosely translated from Helsinki’s biggest newspaper:
Acedemic Aki Kaurismäki has ended his personal Oscar-boycott that lasted for years. Le Havre is the favorite to be submitted from the 25 Finnish feature films that have been released domestically during October 2010 through September 2011.
“We have asked from the film’s distributor, and Le Havre is allowed to be submitted”, says Chairman Tero Koistinen from the Jury that selects the Finnish nominee.
Kaurismäki set USA to his “personal boycott” in the Spring of 2003.
“Since United States of America now has a Democratic President, and its military forces have been pulled out from Iraq, there’s no reason for boycott anymore, and I see no obstacle in submitting Le Havre if Finland chooses to do so”, Kaurismäki writes for Helsinki Sanomat.
Kaurismäki, 54, has been avoiding the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In the Fall of 2002 he agreed to submitting The Man Without a Past in order to help its American distribution. The film was the first Finnish motion picture to be nominated in the category of Best Foreign Language Film, but Kaurismäki still refused to attend the ceremonies. The cultural minister at the time, Kaarina Dromberg begged the director to attend.
“We can not attend the Oscar ceremonies while United States is preparing to commit a criminal act towards humanity for shameless personal economic reasons”, Kaurismäki wrote to Academy in March 2003. The war in Iraq was just around the corner.
In the Fall of 2006 the headlines returned when his motion picture Lights in the Dusk was submitted by Finland without asking permission from the director. Afterwards Kaurismäki denied the submission and due to “expiration date”, Finland was forced to have a no-show at the Oscars.
“I´m the albino in the family!” 🙂
“I´m the albino in the family!” 🙂