Director
Aki Kaurismäki
Composer
Pietu Korhonen
Cast
Alma Pöysti, Alina Tomnikov, Jussi Vatanen
Edition 2023
81'
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2023
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Drama, Comedy
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Dialogue:
Finnish
An idiosyncratic ode to romance, Fallen Leaves is feel-good cinema from Finland that conquered hearts at Cannes. An Aki Kaurismäki grand cru and (Cannes) Grand Prix!
Two lost souls find each other in Helsinki karaoke bar where time has stood still. This reads like a cliché for a romcom, but in the hands of Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki, it's an ingenious tragi(dry)comic love story. Fallen Leaves, his twentieth feature film, joins what was originally a triptych around working-class characters, preceded by Shadows in Paradise (1986), Ariel (1988) and The Match Factory Girl (1990). All films with understated performances, hopeless jobs and a dash of rock 'n' roll. In the work of this minimalist master director, less always equals more. Kaurismäki knows better than anyone how to reconcile bitter with sweet and charm the biggest sourpuss. A tear comes with a laugh, and rain is followed by sunshine. Sincerely funny, moving and a well-deserved winner of the Jury Prize in Cannes.
“Fallen Leaves is another of Kaurismäki’s beguiling and delightful cinephile comedies, featuring foot-tapping rock’n’roll. [The] Finnish filmmaker’s sweet-natured odd-couple romance fills you with a feelgood glow and laughs in the face of Putin’s threat to the country.” - The Guardian
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Credits
Directors
Aki Kaurismäki
Composers
Pietu Korhonen
Cast
Alma Pöysti, Alina Tomnikov, Jussi Vatanen
Scenario
Aki Kaurismäki
Director of Photography
Timo Salminen
Editors
Samu Heikkilä
Producers
Misha Jaari / Oy Bufo Ab, Aki Kaurismäki / Sputnik Oy, Mark Lwoff / Oy Bufo Ab
Distributor
September Film Distribution
More info
Dialogue
Finnish
Countries of production
Finland, Germany
Year
2023
Filmography
Aki Kaurismäki
The Saimaa Gesture (1981), Jackpot 2 (short, 1982), The Worthless (1982), Crime and Punishment (1983), The Clan - Tale of the Frogs (1984), Viimeiset rotannahat (1985), Calamari Union (1985), Rocky VI (short, 1986), Shadows in Paradise (1986), Hamlet Goes Business (1987), Ariel (1988), Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989), The Match Factory Girl (1990), I Hired a Contract Killer (1990), The Bohemian Life (1992), Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana (1994), Total Balalaika Show (1994), Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses (1994), Iron Horsemen (1994), Drifting Clouds (1996), Employment Agent (short, 1996), Juha (1999), Vera, nadezhda, krov' (2000), The Man Without a Past (2002), Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002), Visions of Europe (2004), Lights in the Dusk (2006), To Each His Own Cinema (2007), The Foundry (short, 2007), Le Havre (2011), 60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero (2011), Centro Histórico (2012), O Tasqueiro (short, 2012), Juice Leskinen & Grand Slam: Bluesia Pieksämäen asemalla (short, 2013), The Other Side of Hope (2017), Fallen Leaves (2023)
