Give the gift of Criterion!
Live stream preview

Watch this video and more on The Criterion Channel

Watch this video and more on The Criterion Channel

Start your free trial

Already subscribed? Sign in

21st Century Cinema

Le Havre

1h 33m

Directed by Aki Kaurismäki • 2011 • Finland, France
Starring Blondin Miguel, André Wilms

In this warmhearted comic yarn from Aki Kaurismäki, fate throws the young African refugee Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) into the path of Marcel Marx (André Wilms), a kindly old bohemian who shines shoes for a living in the French harbor city Le Havre. With inborn optimism and the support of his tight-knit community, Marcel stands up to the officials doggedly pursuing the boy for deportation. A political fairy tale that exists somewhere between the reality of contemporary France and the classic French cinema of the past, LE HAVRE is a charming, deadpan delight and one of the Finnish director’s finest films.

Up Next in 21st Century Cinema

  • White Material
    1:45:54
    White Material

    White Material

    Directed by Claire Denis • 2009 • France
    Starring Isabelle Huppert, Christophe Lambert, Isaach De Bankolé

    In WHITE MATERIAL, the great contemporary French filmmaker Claire Denis, known for her restless, intimate dramas, introduces an unforgettably crazed character. Played by a ferocious Isabelle...

  • The Gleaners and I
    1:22:32
    The Gleaners and I

    The Gleaners and I

    Directed by Agnès Varda • 2000 • France
    Starring Agnès Varda

    Agnès Varda’s extraordinary late-career renaissance began with this wonderfully idiosyncratic, self-reflexive documentary in which the French cinema icon explores the world of modern-day gleaners: those living on the margins who surviv...

×