Watch: Le Havre 2011 123movies, Full Movie Online – A dock worker in Le Havre hears a human sound inside one of the containers in port, that container which left Gabon three weeks ago and which was supposed to arrive in London five days after its departure from Gabon, which didn’t happen. The Le Havre police and French border guards find a still alive group of illegal African immigrants inside. On the sign from one of his elders, a young teen boy among the illegal immigrants manages to escape, news of which hits the local media. The first friendly face that boy, Idrissa, encounters is that of former artist now aged shoeshine Marcel Marx. Marcel decides to help Idrissa by hiding him in his house, news which slowly trickles through his community of friends – most of whom he associates with at his local bar – and neighbors, most who assist Marcel in this task. Marcel goes to great lengths to find out Idrissa’s story, which leads to Marcel’s further task of trying to get Idrissa to London, his original end destination. The one neighbor who wants to turn Idrissa in and the authorities seem to be on to Marcel’s activities, most specifically hard nosed police Inspector Monet, who may have his own private agenda. Through it all, Marcel has on his mind the health of his terminally ill and hospitalized wife Arletty, the terminal aspect being something of which he is unaware and which may in turn eventually kill him as Arletty is his life..
Plot: Marcel Marx, a former bohemian and struggling author, has given up his literary ambitions and relocated to the port city Le Havre. He leads a simple life based around his wife Arletty, his favourite bar and his not too profitable profession as a shoeshiner. As Arletty suddenly becomes seriously ill, Marcel’s path crosses with an underage illegal immigrant from Africa, who needs Marcel’s help to hide from the police.
Smart Tags: #france #neighbor #container #illegal_immigrant #bar #shoe_shiner #teenage_boy #two_word_title #plead_for_help #human_trafficking #working_class #illness #miraculous_cure #healing #ill_wife #nasty_neighbor #sandwich #hard_boiled_egg #singer_cameo #cameo_appearance #cameo
123movies | FMmovies | Putlocker | GoMovies | SolarMovie | Soap2day
7.2/10 Votes: 21,967 | |
99% | RottenTomatoes | |
82/100 | MetaCritic | |
N/A Votes: 326 Popularity: 8.717 | TMDB |
In the 2011 production LE HAVRE, the Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki steps away from his usual Helsinki setting for the first in what will be a trilogy of films in Western European port cities. Always rooting for the underdogs, Kaurismäki this time concentrates not just on the disenfranchised urban lower class, but on a socioeconomic strata arguably lower than them: illegal immigrants. Middle-aged shoeshiner Marcel (André Wilms), who lives in a run-down neighbourhood with loving wife Arletty (Kati Outinen) meets Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), a child who has found his way from Gabon to France inside a shipping container. Marcel decides to shelter the boy and see him on to England, his intended destination, but detective Monet (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) is on their heels.In spite of the French setting, this remains a very Finnish film in its sparse dialogue and deadpan humour. Kaurismäki yet again uses a very drab colour scheme and sets the film ostensibly in the present, but with cars, radios and rock music dating from the 1950s. Like nearly every film he has made, there is a musical performance by an oldies rock ‘n’ roll band, complete with pompadours and leather jackets. This is getting appallingly repetitive. Basically, if you’ve seen any two previous Kaurismäki films, then you’ll find almost nothing new in the aesthetic and even the plot.
That said, this is a more life-affirming film than his last, the absolutely bleak LÄHIKAUPINGIN VALOT of 2006. Kaurismäki is clearly concerned with the plight of those who would escape sub-Saharan Africa by any means necessary, and this leads the viewer to reflection, but his exposé of detention centres and police harrassment becomes heavy-handed at times.
Simple story, well and gently told in Kaurismäki’s characteristic style.
Charming and delightful, pure optimistic cinema
These days it seems that French films predominantly fit into one of two categories: Smug, over long and preachy, such as Rust and Bone or Little White Lies. Or they produce deeply involving but simplistic stories containing the most genuine heartfelt emotion such as Amour (in French, therefore French) or The Kid with a Bike. I am happy to say that Le Havre falls in the latter group. In fact the story here is one of pure simplicity and the tone of the film contains nothing but genuine optimism towards the theme of human compassion. That is it, this film has no ulterior motive or no gimmicks, and it is a very simply and extremely involving story based around that one simple theme. However, this film is not just a tribute to human compassion, but contained within it are tributes to the history of cinema that are quite simply a joy to experience. When I say that, the use of music as well the way certain scenes are lit pay a respectful tribute to films of the 40s and 50s throughout the narrative.This is not to say that this film is not without its realism, Marx and his neighbours all live a humble life bordering on poverty. The plight of Idrissa is unenviable and there is an honest depiction of a refugee camp just outside Calais. However, the theme of Le Havre is not that life is simply good, that would be naive. It is how these characters deal with life and the situations that it presents. Of course it would be so easy to fall into to the trap of patronising and borderline preachy cliché here, but this never happens due to the genuine feeling of honesty depicted throughout the narrative. Every character is presented very honestly with all their flaws quite clear to see, but it is their ability for natural compassion that drives the narrative forward. By the time Le Havre reaches its very satisfying conclusion where there are no loose ends, it is difficult not to feel that not only have you been entertained, but also enlightened.
Francophiles and ultra-liberals will delight as Finnish director peddles sentimental, self-righteous left wing fairy tale
Aki Kaurismäki is the extreme left-leaning Finnish director hell bent on satisfying every raving Francophile’s dream. With ‘Le Havre’ he’s outdone even the most radical of today’s French libertarians by fashioning a tale of a never-say-die, radical liberal curmudgeon, out to save victimized third worlders from the clutches of a ‘fascistic’ police state (for Kaurismäki that of course includes the Catholic church).Our curmudgeon hero in question is Marcel, whose surname Kaurismäki unsubtly dubs ‘Marx’. A self-described Bohemian, Marcel used to be a bourgeoisie writer but now shines shoes for a living, obviously sharing an affinity with his working class associates (Marcel’s shoe shine partner is an undocumented alien from Vietnam who carries a fake ID). Marcel is also a free-loader, often taking food from neighborhood shopkeepers on credit, with no intention of satisfying his debts. The neighbors tolerate him as Marcel’s wife, Arletty (named after the legendary French actress of ‘Children of Paradise’ fame), appears to be a pleasant, unassuming type and soon become much more sympathetic as she falls ill (with cancer) and has to be hospitalized.
The inciting incident occurs when the police find a shipping container loaded with African immigrants at a dock in Le Havre. A young boy, Idrissa, runs away and a police officer is about to shoot him with an automatic weapon (only to be stopped by kindly police inspector Monet, who instructs the officer not to fire since he’s only a child).
Wouldn’t you guess but Marcel and Idrissa’s paths cross and soon enough, Marcel is committed to helping the boy. He travels a long way to a detention center where he finds the boy’s grandfather who informs him that Idrissa’s mother is now living in London (believe it or not, ‘Le Havre’ is billed as a comedy and Kaurismäki finds it amusing that the warden at the detention believes Marcel when he claims he’s Idrissa’s Albino uncle!).
The curmudgeon, now turned unstoppable hero, must find a way to hide Idrissa since the big, bad police are after him. He asks one of the neighborhood shopkeepers, to hide the boy, and she graciously complies by safeguarding him in her apartment above her shop. Another shopkeeper, initially cross with Marcel, now gives him loads of food for the beleaguered Idrissa. In contrast to what happened in World War II, average Frenchmen here are depicted as natural humanitarians who will even break the law in the name of justice. Only government officials, backed by the aforementioned bad guy police force and a reactionary clergy, stand in the way of Idrissa’s liberation.
Marcel needs a ton of cash to have Idrissa transported by boat to his mother in London, so he dreams up the idea of a benefit rock concert. All he has to do is convince a local pop star to perform but first must bring the pop star and his wife back together after they’ve had a lover’s spat (again, we’re supposed to laugh when Marcel reconciles the two wounded lovebirds).
After Marcel raises the cash and brings Idrissa to the boat, Inspector Monet shows up (as he’s done throughout the film) and makes it clear that he’s thoroughly on Marcel’s side. When the police come on board, he pulls rank and pretends that Idrissa isn’t below, in the hold of the boat. One is reminded of the scene in ‘Casablanca’, where Inspector Renault covers for Rick who has just shot Major Strasser. Just as Monet misdirects his police officers, Renault misdirects the Germans by ordering them to “round up the usual suspects”.
Earlier, we see Monet reassuring the Prefect inside the church that he’s determined to catch the boy but it’s obvious that he has no intention of keeping his word to the religious authorities (seen here as in league with the ‘devil’ police state). Funny how Monet so easily is determined to risk his entire career for this one boy and join forces with the disgruntled Marcel. You’ll also notice that Kaurismäki dare not suggest that any of the Africans that he introduces us to, are anything but upstanding, saintly citizens.
To top it off, Kaurismäki cannot allow his audience to experience any of the hard knocks we might encounter during our travails in life. In the shockingly sentimental ending, Marcel’s wife who has a terminal diagnosis, miraculously is cured and returns home with Marcel, presumably to put up with his never-ending curmudgeonly ways.
As a registered Democrat, I am generally sympathetic to liberal causes. However, when some of my more radical left leaning brethren decide to twist reality by proffering up fairy tales of victimization and undeserved heroes sticking up for straw men victims, I can hardly remain silent. Le Havre is watchable to see just how far its misguided director will go in peddling such a self-righteous, sentimental left wing fairy tale.
Original Language fr
Runtime 1 hr 33 min (93 min)
Budget 3850000
Revenue 0
Status Released
Rated Not Rated
Genre Comedy, Drama
Director Aki Kaurismäki
Writer Aki Kaurismäki
Actors André Wilms, Blondin Miguel, Jean-Pierre Darroussin
Country Finland, France, Germany
Awards 15 wins & 34 nominations
Production Company N/A
Website N/A
Sound Mix Dolby Digital (SRD)
Aspect Ratio 1.85 : 1
Camera Arriflex 35 BL2, Cooke Speed Panchro Lenses
Laboratory N/A
Film Length 2,600 m
Negative Format 35 mm (Kodak Vision3 250D 5207, Vision3 500T 5219)
Cinematographic Process Super 35 (3-perf)
Printed Film Format 35 mm (spherical), Digital (Digital Cinema Package DCP)