Le Havre is a 2011 film written and directed by Aki Kaurismäki.
Despite being a Finnish production the film is entirely in French. Marcel Marx (André Wilms) is an old man who makes a meager living shining shoes in the port of Le Havre in Normandy. He and his wife Arletty (Kaurismäki regular Kati Outinen) seem to be not that far above homelessness, living in a humble one-room house, but they are well liked by their neighbors. One day Arletty falls ill, goes to the hospital, and gets some very bad news about her health. She elects to keep the bad news a secret from Marcel.
While his wife is in the hospital, Marcel has an entirely different problem. Le Havre, being a major seaport, is a hub for smuggling and trafficking. A guard at the port facility discovers a shipping container full of Africans who were bound for London. The police come to arrest them, but one, a boy named Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) who looks like he's in his early teens, escapes. A news crew films the boy's escape, leading to government pressure on the local authorities, led by Inspector Monet (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), to find and arrest Idrissa.
Marcel is having his lunch the next day when he discovers Idrissa hiding under a dock. He smuggles food to the boy and eventually brings Idrissa into his home. He hides Idrissa from the dragnets led by Inspector Monet, while trying to figure out how to get the boy to London, where his mother is waiting. Meanwhile, he remains ignorant of his wife's dire state of health.
Jean-Pierre Léaud has a small part as a nameless neighbor who rats to the police about Idrissa.
Tropes:
- As Himself: Roberto Piazza of Real Life French rock band Little Bob. He's disconsolate after breaking up with his girlfriend.
- Blatant Lies
- The local fruit vendor, seeing Marcel coming and knowing that Marcel is going to steal some of his food, starts frantically pulling down the metal screen to his shop, shouting that he's closed. When Marcel says "I can see your feet!", the fruit vendor insists that no, he's upstairs.
- Marcel gets in to see Idrissa's grandfather, locked up in a detention center for refugees, by claiming that he's the man's albino brother, a reporter and a lawyer, and that he's been recording the entire conversation. He threatens to sue the warden for discrimination on the basis of color. It works.
- Conspicuous Trench Coat: The film opens with a comic scene in which Marcel, at the ferry terminal, shines the shoes of a shifty looking guy in a Conspicuous Trench Coat with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. Other guys in Conspicuous Trench Coats and fedoras — Stock Costume Traits for spies, in other words — lurk about watching the man. When the man is shot to death offscreen, Marcel and his buddy Chang just shrug and leave.
- Could Say It, But...: Inspector Monet says that "I couldn't give advice without committing a breach of duty," and then tells Marcel that "If I were you," he'd get the boy on a ship out of France ASAP, before the immigration dragnet shows up.
- Dastardly Whiplash: Monet is dressed like one of these, and for most of the film his actions fit the bill as well.
- The Disease That Shall Not Be Named: It's hard to tell just what is wrong with Arletty. It seems like it must be cancer, seeing as how the doctor is showing her X-rays and saying she needs a miracle, and she has to have some unspecified treatments. But at the end of the movie she's all better.
- Everybody Smokes: Arletty lights up a cigarette while in the hospital.
- Hey, Let's Put on a Show: Marcel, needing 3000 euro to get Idrissa on a ship that will smuggle him to London, gets local rock band Little Bob to put on a show to raise the cash.
- The Illegal: Idrissa, a teen boy found in a shipping container, trying to join his mother in London. Also Marcel's friend Chang, who reveals that "Chang" isn't his real name and he's been living in France under forged papers for years. There's also an illicit refugee camp at Calais near the coast, where Marcel goes to find Idrissa's grandfather.
- Killed Offscreen: The opening scene with Marcel shining a spy's shoes ends with the spy being shot to death offscreen while Marcel and Chang watch, only mildly interested.
- Kitchen Sink Drama: A member of the working poor of Le Havre tries to help an African immigrant escape the authorities and make his way to London.
- Let Off by the Detective: Having finally found Idrissa, in the hold of a fishing vessel in the port, Inspector Monet lets him go rather than turn him over to immigration.
- The Place: Le Havre, a port on the northern coast of France, and as such a hub for human trafficking.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Inspector Monet of the local police. He dislikes having the armed-to-the-teeth border security folks swarm down on the docks, and stops one of them from shooting Idrissa In the Back. At the end of the movie he deliberately lets the boy escape.
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: The doctor tells Arletty that she's terminally ill and will need a miracle. The film seems to be setting up a Bittersweet Ending in which Marcel gets Idrissa away only to find out that his wife has died. Yet somehow, when he comes back to the hospital, Arletty is all better, and they go home together.
