He's one of the directors (very few) there you recognize who's made the movie just after a couple of seconds. Kaurismäki has a tender view on shabby environments and shabby people. It has suited his Finland conception very well.
But it functions also in France and Le Havre, there you meet this shoe-polisher who tries to help a refugee boy. Not just the shoe-polisher, all working class people do.
It's a little miracle like every film in a sort of way is everywhere, but Kaurismäki takes it on without shame. And his environments and his tenderness seem to be universal. France is like Finland and the rest of the world.
But it functions also in France and Le Havre, there you meet this shoe-polisher who tries to help a refugee boy. Not just the shoe-polisher, all working class people do.
It's a little miracle like every film in a sort of way is everywhere, but Kaurismäki takes it on without shame. And his environments and his tenderness seem to be universal. France is like Finland and the rest of the world.