Fallen Leaves
The unexpected return of Aki Kaurismäki finds him on wholly characteristic form.
Although Aki Kaurismäki is still only in his sixties, it appeared likely that 2017’s The Other Side of Hope would be his last film since, albeit not for the first time, he then announced that he was retiring. As the years passed it appeared that he had really meant it, but now six years on we have Fallen Leaves which won the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The extremely positive response to this film might lead newcomers to his work to expect some kind of blazing masterpiece although that is far from the kind of movies that Kaurismäki makes. However, his admirers will simply rejoice to find his talent undimmed.
The films of Finland’s most famous writer/director have always tended to be small in scale and indeed in length (at 81 minutes, Fallen Leaves is not atypical) but few filmmakers have achieved a style so personal and so immediately recognisable. That applies on so many levels that it could be said that Kaurismäki has created a world of his own and every corner of this new piece exemplifies this. The story here is of the simplest as it focuses on the lives of two loners in Helsinki, Ansa (Alma Pöysti) and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen). It’s no surprise to find that they are both working class - she stacks shelves in a supermarket and he has a job in metal work. But early on Ansa gets fired after allowing a homeless man to take away food that she is throwing out for being past its expiry date and before long we find that Holappa has a drinking problem that makes it difficult for him to sustain any employment for long. These two meet by chance at a karaoke bar and the film then follows their accident-prone courtship.
As a storyline this falls somewhere between the classic Marty (1955) and the standard formulaic love story which plays with mishaps that threaten the smooth running of a romance. But Fallen Leaves illustrates how such material can be transformed into something totally individual. For one thing Kaurismäki has always been known for his deadpan comedy which co-exists alongside sympathetic portraits of ordinary people whose lives are something of a struggle. In this instance the humour comes into play early on when the sight of Holappa smoking a cigarette is made comic by the setting in which it happens. But because it is embedded in the drama an even more characteristic example is to be found in the delight that Kaurismäki takes in the look on the face of the security guard at the supermarket who reports Ansa. But, if humorous touches abound, Fallen Leaves is more importantly a deeply sympathetic study of its two central characters. Vatanen is fine, but it is Alma Pöysti above all who captures perfectly the depth of feeling that lies beneath the underplaying that is part of the minimalistic surface approach. The latter is a mode that eliminates sentimentality despite the fact that Kaurismäki is a romantic at heart and one never afraid to suggest emotion through the use of music by Tchaikovsky. He is skilful too in ensuring that plotting which might seem melodramatic is handled in a way that plays it down.
It’s also the case with Kaurismäki that surface is more than surface. Fallen Leaves is photographed by his regular photographer Tomo Salminen and the colour schemes are part of the film’s character along with details displaying a fondness for past times. That leads Kaurismäki to create a timeless world even though it is supposed to be contemporary. Thus, it is that the characters rely on radios and not on televisions for news although the bulletins heard keep referring to the war in Ukraine. These headlines are in keeping with the social realism inherent in the film’s portrait of poor people struggling to get by and being exploited in their working lives. As for the love story, that side of the film is not without a touch of the fairytale yet at the same time the possibility of it working out well represents the hope that such people genuinely need in order to sustain themselves in life. That is a recognisable part of today’s world but nostalgia for earlier times is never far away in Fallen Leaves be it in the many cinematic references including numerous film posters displayed at the cinema or in the use of songs that range from rock ‘n’ roll to a 1958 recording of ‘Les Feuilles Mortes’ which is the source of the film’s title. One critic has observed that Jussi Vatinen’s looks are somewhat reminiscent of those of Ryan Gosling but arguably it’s even more relevant that he brings James Stewart to mind.
Put all these elements together and you are in the world that uniquely belongs to Aki Kaurismäki and his direction here is splendidly economical and assured. That Alma Pöysti should perfectly express what is needed is the icing on the cake, but the factor that renders Fallen Leaves more than a triumph of style over conventional material is never in doubt: what in other hands might be a synthetic crowd-pleasing commercial tale is here made into a work that at the deepest level expresses Aki Kaurismäki himself and what he feels about life. And, yes, not for the first time in one of his movies a dog has a role in the film and it is Aki’s own.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen, Janne Hyytiäinen, Nuppu Koivu, Martti Suosalo, Alina Tomnikov, Eero Ritala, Maria Heiskanen, Anna Karjalainen, Matti Onnismaa and Alma.
Dir Aki Kaurismäki, Pro Aki Kaurismäki, Screenplay Aki Kaurismäki, Ph Tomo Salminen, Art Dir Ville Grönroos, Ed Samu Heikkila, Costumes Tiina Kaukanen.
Sputnik/Bufo/Pandora Films-Mubi.
81 mins. Finland/Germany. 2023. US Rel: 17 November 2023. UK Rel: 1 December 2023. Cert. 12A.
