In a movie year rife with from comes a slender 81-minute gem that outclasses them all. Aki Kaurism盲ki鈥檚 short, sweet and utterly delightful, is the kind of movie that鈥檚 so charming, you want to run it back the moment it鈥檚 over.
Kaurism盲ki, the writer-director Finnish master of the deadpan, has for nearly four decades been making minimalist, clear-eyed fables about mostly working-class characters in harsh economic realities. Bleak as his films are, they鈥檙e also funny, compassionate and profound. They put up a tough, droll front that never quite hides the heart underneath.
The same could be said for one of the main characters in the plaintive and tender 鈥淔allen Leaves." When Holappa (Jussi Vatanen), a construction worker, is invited by his friend Houtari (Kaurism盲ki veteran Janne Hyyti盲inen) to karaoke, he replies: 鈥淭ough guys don鈥檛 sing.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not a tough guy,鈥� Houtari responds.
鈥淔allen Leaves,鈥� Kaurism盲ki's first since 2017鈥檚 鈥淭he Other Side of Hope,鈥� is about Holappa and a woman named Ansa (Alma P枚ysti), both solitary people scraping by in Helsinki. They first encounter each other at that karaoke bar where Houtari proudly sings (for the rest of the movie, whenever he appears he鈥檒l be seeking compliments for his performance), but Ansa and Holappa watch quietly apart.
Kaurism盲ki draws them together, but slowly. 鈥淔allen Leaves鈥� is the best big-screen romance of the year even though its prospective lovers exchange only a handful of words and, for most of the film, don鈥檛 know each other鈥檚 names.
It鈥檚 more about the circumstances they鈥檙e both in. In the beginning of the film, Ansa is working at a supermarket while a security guard glares at her. She鈥檚 fired for keeping an expired item instead of throwing it away. At home, she looks at her bills and then shuts the power off. Her next job, at a restaurant, fizzles on pay day when the owner is arrested for selling drugs.
Holappa loses his job, too. After an accident at a construction site due to shoddy equipment, he鈥檚 fired for having alcohol in his blood. He鈥檚 a scapegoat, but the drinking problem is real. He keeps vodka in his locker and hidden on the job site.
鈥淚鈥檓 depressed because I drink and I drink because I鈥檓 depressed,鈥� he tells Houtari.
The cinematography of longtime Kaurism盲ki collaborator Timo Salminen is so spare, with occasional pops of color and irony, that 鈥淔allen Leaves鈥� has a timeless feeling. It casts the cruelty of the world as an eternal state, a sense only enhanced and expanded upon in the most precise contemporary reference of the film. Whenever Ansa turns the radio on, news from the war in Ukraine is being read.
In Kaurism盲ki鈥檚 film, the world is full of bullying authorities. (His radiant 2011 film about an old French shoe shiner helping a migrant boy, hinged on a police officer who in the climactic moment choses to look the other way.) In 鈥淔allen Leaves,鈥� the only thing to do is curse the jerks who make life miserable, have a drink and head to the movies.
That鈥檚 where Ansa and Holappa go, once they finally meet, for a date. They see Jim Jarmusch鈥檚 a funny choice not just because it鈥檚 a zombie comedy but because Jarmusch, a friend of Kaurism盲ki鈥檚, is so similar in deadpan style to him. Outside, the couple stands in front of telling posters: 鈥淟e Cercle Rouge,鈥� 鈥淔at City,鈥� 鈥淧ierrot le Fou" 鈥� each a touchstone to the director.
It鈥檚 little odes to cinema like these that make 鈥淔allen Leaves鈥� 鈥� winner of the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival and Finland鈥檚 Oscar submission 鈥� one of the most personal and self-reflective films for Kaurism盲ki. He probably wouldn't stand for all the analysis or the praise. But as Ansa and Holappa come together without a word of flowery romance, they carve out a small, private refugee from the world around them 鈥� just like the movies do. There isn't a bit of fat on 鈥淔allen Leaves,鈥� just some lean truths about life and a dog named Chaplin.
鈥淔allen Leaves,鈥� a Mubi release, is unrated by the Motion Picture Association. Running time: 81 minutes. In Finnish with English subtitles. Four stars out of four.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
