For all the loneliness embodied by the figures in Edward Hopper’s paintings, his work also has a soft glow that always strikes me as comforting and even cozy. I had the same sensation watching Fallen Leaves, a dry Aki Kaurismaki comedy (I realize that’s a redundant way to describe a film from the director of The Man Without a Past and Le Havre) about two sad, solitary laborers in modern-day Helsinki who embark on a tentative romance—despite the many minor mishaps that threaten to derail them. From the cinematography by Timo Salminen—which favors greens and blues that are on just the right side of sickly—to the sensitive, stalwart performances by Alma Poysti and Jussi Vatanen, the movie never gives in to despair (despite the constant and increasingly grim radio reports in the background detailing Russia’s war on Ukraine). Quiet little jokes abound, while the mood is also lightened—as often happens in a Kaurismaki movie—by amusing musical sequences, including a bar performance by the Finnish pop duo Maustetytöt. The song—“Syntynyt Suruun Ja Puettu Pettymyksin”—juxtaposes a bright bounce with dire lyrics (“I’m a prisoner here forever / Even the graveyard is by fences bound”). I could imagine a museum playing it alongside an exhibition of Hopper’s work. As for Fallen Leaves itself, the movie won’t change your world—but it’s nice watching two lost people experience a hopeful change in theirs.
(11/30/2023)
