Le Havre: The failure of this gem to win a prize was widely considered to be the most egregious omission by Robert De Niro’s Cannes jury. Set in a retro Gallic world that seems timeless, it’s a deft intrigue about an elderly artist and his wife who harbour an illegal immigrant, an African boy who steps from a shipping container in the French port of Le Havre. Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki directs note-perfect performances with the deadpan delicacy and painterly control that has become his signature—an unpretentious auteur stamp as distinctive as that of Cronenberg or the Coen brothers.
FILED UNDER: Hotlist
