The 2023 ‘Kuolleet lehdet‘ (‘Fallen Leaves‘ in international distribution) is a formidable display of minimalist virtuosity by Finnish maestro Aki Kaurismäki. The director, who is also the author of the original screenplay, seems to be responding to a challenge. What are the minimum requirements and simple (and cheap) means to make a great movie? A good script – that is, emotional and/or interesting -, actors who live their roles with sincerity and commitment, and a filming style that draws the audience into what is happening on the screen. Seems simple, doesn’t it? So why are so few great movies being made?
They say that Finland comes out on top in the rankings of the countries with the happiest people in the world. The heroes of this film do not seem to be part of the category of those who answered those surveys. Ansa and Holappa are two lonely people in a world of lonely people. They are also very poor. Both work in low-paying jobs where their employers exploit their social and economic weaknesses and from which they are fired one after another. He has a drinking problem and is caught drinking following an accident he was not responsible for at work. She is fired from a supermarket for giving out expired food to people in need. They meet at a karaoke night, no words are exchanged, the relationship starts from glances. They lose each other, look for each other, find each other, break up, look for each other again, fate seems against them. Can the two loneliness be overcome and become a relationship?
Stories like this have been told before and will be told. That’s why the way they are told matters. The modest eco-social conditions of the main characters give Aki Kaurismäki the pretext to build minimalist settings around them, avoiding almost all the technology objects that have become part of our lives. The musical instruments in the bars through which the heroes wander are from the 60s. So is the radio they listen to the news on. Mobile phones seem to be from the turn of the century, no iPhone or other ‘smartphones’. Even for the Internet connection, the heroine goes to rent half an hour of connectivity at a cafe. Aki Kaurismäki‘s world is almost timeless, frozen somewhere in the past decades, and we have the feeling that the film could have been made back then and it would have looked much the same. To express the loneliness of the heroes, the director films them from angles and with colors reminiscent of Hoffer’s paintings, with blank stares, avoiding eye contact and communication with each other. Several key scenes take place in a cinema hall and at its entrance, with homages to French New Wave films and zombie horror films. The news about Ukraine are always on the radio. The threat of war seems to belong in another world, but we are in Finland, the country neighboring Russia, which in its not too distant history has known the threat from the East. All the actors and extras are excellent, starting with Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen who play the main roles. The story in the film unfolds over several months, from summer to the brink of winter, the title of the film – ‘Fallen Leaves‘ being another homage, to the French song ‘Les feuilles mortes’. This sonically illustrates the formidable finale, which is also linked to the movies Kaurismäki loves. I found to be remarkable the entire soundtrack, mostly composed of Finnish songs, some of them maybe famous. ‘Fallen Leaves‘ is a simple and moving film, an unmissable cinematic experience.