At The Movies: Fallen Leaves

Fallen Leaves is a movie arriving just in time for Valentines Day. Ansa (Alma Pöysti) works at a supermarket, where the job is so badly paid that she takes home expired sandwiches for dinner. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) is a metalworker, labouring in a job so hazardous he’s sure it will kill him, so he drinks through the day, and then again at night. Meanwhile, the radio constantly carries news about the nearby war in Ukraine.

One evening, against his will, Holappa is dragged to a karaoke bar by a friend. “Tough guys don’t sing”, he says. But karaoke night is also a night for romance, and when Holappa meets the shy Ansa, there’s an immediate spark. But life being what it is, a variety of obstacles conspire to get in the way.

In an era of long running films, Fallen Leaves comes in at a sprightly eighty one minutes running time. But even with a slow start of building the characters, the movie packs a lot into the eighty one-minute running time. It is a romantic movie about lonely everyday people struggling to survive in the backwaters of Helsinki. Director Aki Kaurismaki”s makes a minimalistic film, where even the main actors don’t say much, especially to each other. But there is always a deeper, darker underlying tone with the characters.

The film has been described as a rom-com and while the rom(ance) is highly evident, the com(edy), while there, will not have you laughing out loud in the cinema, but you will be smiling.

At eighty one minutes, Fallen Leaves definitely doesn’t out stay it’s welcome, (apparently director Aki Kaurismaki doesn’t believe a movie should go over ninety minutes), but it is a movie that will stay with you for the rest of the year.

Movie Review by Geoff Jenke

Fallen Leaves at Palace Nova Cinema’s from 14 February 2024.