☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Fallen Leaves (2023) – A. Kaurismäki
It’s probably easy to underestimate Aki Kaurismäki,
the 68-year-old Finnish director. His films are short, understated, and droll.
In Fallen Leaves, the characters interact in a version of Helsinki filled with
movie posters – including for films by Bresson, Godard, David Lean, and Jim
Jarmusch (whose film, The Dead Don’t Die, 2019, the central couple go to see). This
provides some hints about Kaurismäki’s intent – his film may feel slight, but
it is actually linked carefully to film history, though unique in its own style.
Bresson is a clear inspiration because we often see the characters doing
things, small things like looking at the expiry date on food or sweeping a factory
floor, which puts viewers in an existential mindset (thinking about doing and
being). This is part of the so-called “Proletariat Trilogy” (the fourth film,
following 1990’s The Match Factory Girl) which speaks to the class differences
which were pivotal to Godard’s politicised cinema; including ongoing reports of
the war in Ukraine every time a radio is switched on also reminds us of Godard’s
intertextual approach (his bold colour palette also shows kinship). As far as the plot goes, David Lean’s Brief Encounter
(1945) seems to be a touchstone, although in Fallen Leaves, Alma Pöysti’s Ana
and Jussi Vatanen’s Holappa aren’t married to others and approaching an affair –
they are just lonely strangers who struggle to make their connection
happen. Kaurismäki observes them
nonjudgmentally (even when Holappa’s behaviour is clearly self-destructive, but
with a wry eye that suggests that finding humour in life is one way to survive
its repeated letdowns. Bemusing sequences, such as in the karaoke bar, are
played as deadpan as you can get (a tendency also shared with his friend Jarmusch).
Things go wrong, yes, but it’s never as bad as it seems – or at least the
characters pull themselves together and get on with it (as existential
proletariats must do). Music ties the whole thing together, bringing the
melancholy, especially with a Finnish version of the French song “Les Feuilles Mortes”
(known in English as “Autumn Leaves”, and translating to the film’s title here)
and a Finnish version of Gordon Lightfoot’s Early Mornin’ Rain. Holappa’s
friend Huotari (Janne Hyytiäinen) sings a traditional Finnish ballad at karaoke
and indie-rock duo Maustetytöt get showcased in a bar. Definitely worth 80
minutes of your time.
