Keswick Film Club - Fallen Leaves

Synopsis

A lovely tale of 'almost-doomed' romance starts our 25th Year. Ansa is sacked from her shelf-filling, supermarket job for taking home out-of-date food to give to the poor. Holoppa is sacked from his job in a scrapyard for drinking at work. All looks lost for both of them until they meet at an eclectic karaoke bar (!) and love beckons... but a lost address and even a charming stray dog still stand in their way... You have guessed it - Aki Kaurismäki is back with his latest comedic look at the world and its problems.

"The tale is in its telling", as David Jenkins says in Little White Lies, and no-one tells a tale like Kaurismäki - remember 'Other Side Of Hope' we had here in 2017? He has won 60 awards along the way and this one won him the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival.

"Present and correct is his usual shadowy noir lighting and a jukebox soundtrack of Finnish and other ballads. It builds on his other stories of Finnish working-class woe and wears its film-loving heart on its sleeve with wry nods to other directors throughout.

Particular to Fallen Leaves is a deep, amused sigh at the limitations of men and alcohol, especially when paired. But it's not judgy, just jaded, at least until the clouds finally start to part. It finds genuine humour in its characters' almost down-and-out lot, but it's fully on their side – the side of those trampled on by modern times" - Dave Calhoun, Time Out.