Repost: Le Havre (May 19th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[LE HAVRE screens Saturday May 19th at 8:00 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Pamela Zoslov

What is it about darkness that's so compelling these days? Looking at the critically acclaimed films of 2011 – some, it must be said, incomprehensibly acclaimed – it is startling to realize how many were about the end of the world. The apocalypse was imagined in MELANCHOLIA, ANOTHER EARTH, TREE OF LIFE and TAKE SHELTER, and nihilistic gloom and sexual violence were prominent in a number of other highly praised releases. This peering into the abyss is understandable, given the state of the world – endless war, drone bombing, the looting of the economy, and vaunted “hope and change” having turned into “more of the same, only worse.” But is there still room in the landscape for a small, humanistic film like Aki Kaurismäki's LE HAVRE, the kind of story that leaves you feeling uplifted, not defeated? I think so; despite appearances, the end of the world is not nigh.

Le Havre (January 13th and 15th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[LE HAVRE screens Friday January 13th at 9:15 pm and Saturday January 14th at 6:35 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Pamela Zoslov

What is it about darkness that's so compelling these days? Looking at the critically acclaimed films of 2011 – some, it must be said, incomprehensibly acclaimed – it is startling to realize how many were about the end of the world. The apocalypse was imagined in MELANCHOLIA, ANOTHER EARTH, TREE OF LIFE and TAKE SHELTER, and nihilistic gloom and sexual violence were prominent in a number of other highly praised releases. This peering into the abyss is understandable, given the state of the world – endless war, drone bombing, the looting of the economy, and vaunted “hope and change” having turned into “more of the same, only worse.” But is there still room in the landscape for a small, humanistic film like Aki Kaurismäki's LE HAVRE, the kind of story that leaves you feeling uplifted, not defeated? I think so; despite appearances, the end of the world is not nigh.