A French light comedy with a very happy, uplifting ending. Felt kind of lightweight to me. Shot with those pastel French coloured backgrounds that were all the rage post Amelie. Kitsch. Watched on DVD.

Every clip is a work of art, the colours, the subtle movement, Little Bob, how we were drawn into the characters, I am happy that movies like this are still being made.

The theatrical composition of each scene creates a beautiful path of images leading the way for the viewer through this smooth fable story.

Bit white saviour-y, but that's my only complaint. Otherwise a fairly emotionally informative, very cute and touching little film.

My only other Aki Kaurismäki film to date is his 1988 drama Ariel, where the comedy is much more subdued and dark, but also much funnier than what we ended up with in Le Havre; that deadpan seems to be the traditional territory for the director, which makes his sharp left turn into lighthearted, wholesome comedy something of a surprise. Le Havre is a very romantic, crowd-pleasing story that imparts a warm, golden glow to a serious and rather morose subject - modern refugee movements - with compassionate characters with plenty of personality and charm. There's not an ounce of ill will or human frailty in this film, which will make you either love it or hate it; once you accept that literally nothing can go wrong in this universe apart from a few mild inconveniences that serve either to bring people closer together or to provide comic relief, you'll get a sense of where the film is headed. The performances are warm and inviting, particularly André Wilms as Marcel Marx, who is a charming, elderly rascal with a heart of gold, but sometimes the film just seems to overplay its hand with how much credit it gives people, with an entire neighborhood coming together to shield an illegal alien from apprehension by the authorities without any real motivation, or Marcel placing what little money he has in an envelope for his new apprentice with a wife slowly dying in the hospital. I guess Frank Capra would be proud, but we're drifting out of the realm of reality for a few fuzzy moments. Plus, very strange and out of place musical number from French blues-rock singer Little Bob. What was up with that? (3/5)

Kaurismaki's humanity is once again evident in "Le Havre", whose story about an old man welcoming a young immigrant into his home (and heart) will surely touch you. It could easily be just another melodrama but Kaurismaki artfully turns this drear story into a hymn of optimism, hopefulness and the belief that in the end humanity can prevail.

This feels like a film made in another time, 70s or 80s, the sensibilities the heartwarming. Enjoyable film.

Excelente película que retrata sin pretensiones el tema de la inmigración y la xenofobia en Francia.

Beautiful fairy tale. I love it

After disliking "The Man Without a Past, from the same director, I decided to give him a second chance with this film, but unfortunately I cannot say I am fully satisfied. I liked it more and the ending was lovely. Actually there were many lovely things, still I cannot find a connection with Aki Kaurismäki, and even if the movie is only 1h and 30m long, it felt way more.

It was too cliched, predictable, and Manichaean.

See Carlos Magalhares' review. He's spot-on.

Bought this film when it came out and kept it on a "soon to be seen" list for years. Knowing it probably would be really good I was glad to finally put it on. I've seen a few Aki Kaurismäki films, but I believe this is his first one done and sat in France. The story is super and it's in short terms about a old and kind shoe polisher that takes care of an immigrant African boy that are dreaming about London. It's well shot, superbly told and it's a sweet and subtly humorus film - a bit brighter than most of his other films. Not much to dislike here, it really lived up to my expectations. 8.5 out of 10 albino brothers.

A charming film that is soft spoken, but is entertaining to watch, nonetheless. With its bold, jewel-toned colors and steady plot (along with all-around happy endings), "Le Havre" just goes to show that it takes a village to raise a child . . . or at least to save one from deportation.

Aki Kaurasmaki's Le Havre does for the small French village what Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris does for its titular city. Kaurasmaki presents an uber-romantic view of the kind of community where everyone knows everyone, and baguette and stinky cheese can be bought on every corner. It seems more than a little unrealistic, but coupled with its quirky characters and gleefully over-the-top score, it becomes something unexpected: A deadpan fairytale. Though it lacks focus and feels a lot longer than it actually is, I must recommend it because of the very thin line between surprising and heartwarming that it somehow manages to walk. In the French port city of Le Havre, shoeshiner Marcel Marx (Andre Wilms) lives a simple life. After work, he stops for groceries at the same shops, stopping to chitchat with the same people. He gets a drink of wine at the same bar, always populated with the same patrons. Then, he heads home to his loving wife, Arletty (Kati Outinen), and starts it all again the next day. But very suddenly, a series of events throws his world for a loop. First, Arletty is stricken ill and hospitalized. Treatable cancer, he's told, is the problem, though Arletty knows the truth: Her disease is terminal. He also encounters a young Gabonese boy, Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), who snuck into the country via shipping container with his family. He's the only one who managed to escape, and though every law enforcer within 50 miles is after him, Marcel takes pity and decides to help him make his way to London-his intended destination and the place where his mother lives. All he needs to do is outfox the steadfast and suspicious inspector, Monet (Jean-Pierre Darroussin). Le Havre is as much a story about a place as it is about people. The film's tone makes it unclear to me whether he has genuine affection for places like this or if he's intending to send them up, but if it's the latter, I think he's failed. Le Havre makes me long for a place where everybody knows your name and wouldn't think twice to help you when you're in need. It sounds schmaltzy, I know, but Kaurasmaki dampens it all somewhat with dourness that feels both welcome and misplaced. As I stated earlier, the tone is a little all over the place, but it's hard to argue with how the finished product made me feel. It's interesting how, on the surface, the film seems to be about Marcel's attempts to help Idrissa, but this all fades to the background fairly quickly. Though I'm glad in a way (what Kaurasmaki does instead is much more satisfying than that story ever would be on its own), it does make the film drag in places. The director can't ignore this thread completely, however, and though the way he concludes it is a bit obvious, it's handled as well as it could have been. As far as performances go, the film is full of good ones. The best is Darroussin's as the inspector, easily the most complicated individual in the film. He's a lot like Kevin Bacon's character, Sean, in Mystic River. It's clear he was once part of Marcel's community-a place where laws aren't maliciously broken, but they aren't followed to a T, either. Monet gave that lifestyle up to become a law enforcer, and he isn't well-received as a result. He's something of a turncoat, and that title weighs heavy on him. As Marcel, Andre Wilms doesn't need to do a ton, but he effective conveys the film's complicated tone. Ditto Kati Outinen and Blondin Miguel, though the former nearly disappears about halfway through, and the latter, as I've said, doesn't have a ton to do throughout. I have my doubts regarding Le Havre's ability to resonate, but it's definitely a pleasant watch. It's not all that challenging, but damn if it didn't manage to surprise me on a few occasions. It's a shame it didn't get the Best Foreign Language Film citation most expected because I think it'd be a nice antidote to your typically heavy fare in that category. Alas, it was probably a little too confounding for Academy voters. Their loss. http://www.johnlikesmovies.com/le-havre-review/

Directed By: Aki Kaurismäki !!!

An art-house feel-good movie. Very optimistic in its nature, with no villains in sight (besides a vague sense of government harassment). Andre Wilms helps to create a great character in Marcel Marx, he would be a very great subject to create a low-key series around, just following him around. Well directed and filmed, with an interesting look and feel.

There are no bad Aki Kaurismäki films. And this one is excellent.

Pretty good movie and warmhearted, esp. very good relationship between that young African refugee(Blondin Miguel) and elderly(André Wilms), and very humanity. Good work!

Le Havre [France, 2011] Distinctively charming, not quite touching as it should be. 7/10