Le Havre

Le Havre is a 2011 comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Aki Kaurismäki and starring André Wilms, Kati Outinen, Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Blondin Miguel. It tells the story of a shoeshiner who tries to save an immigrant child in the French port city Le Havre. The film was produced by Kaurismäki's Finnish company Sputnik with international co-producers in France and Germany. It is Kaurismäki's second French-language film, after La Vie de Bohème from 1992. The film premiered in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it received the FIPRESCI Prize. Kaurismäki envisions it as the first installment in a trilogy about life in port cities. His ambition was to make follow-ups set in Spain and Germany, shot in the local languages. However, his next film The Other Side of Hope is set in Helsinki. Plot Marcel Marx, formerly both a bohemian and struggling author, has given up his literary ambitions and relocated to the port city of Le Havre. He leads a simple life based around his wife, Arletty, his favourite bar and his low income profession as a shoeshiner. As Arletty suddenly becomes seriously ill, Marcel's path crosses with that of an underage illegal immigrant from Africa. Marcel and friendly neighbors and other townspeople help to hide him from the police. The police inspector may, or may not, be hot on their heels. Cast