Fallen Leaves
Aki Kaurismäki tantalises us with Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet Lehdet). Is it going to be a Sleeping Beauty story about a princess saved by a kiss? Or is it the more downbeat but emotion-choked tale of two ships that pass in the night, a Finnish Brief Encounter? Kaurismäki references both, one way or another, as he spins out a typically deadpan, typically miserablist and typically gripping story of love among the “fallen leaves”, a pair of midlife McJobbers who could find happiness with each other if only they could connect up in the first place. That’s his story. To tell it, two great actors. Alma Pöysti as Ansa, a supermarket worker who is fired … Read more