Fallen Leaves is the latest tragicomedy from Finnish melancholic Aki Kaurismäki. As befits a Kaurismäki storyline, tender happiness is in danger of being lost. Ansa and Holappa, two wandering souls in Helsinki, both just fired, have their first date in a movie theater. Ansa writes her phone number on a bill for Holappa, the bill gets lost, yet they find each other…

Fallen Leaves (Grand Jury Prize of the Cannes Film Festival) paints the timid love story between two “have nots” in an alcohol-crazed Helsinki. In the pubs, guests stare melancholically at the slow and inescapable deadbeat of their beer, punctuated by apt, brief remarks that resonate with both wisdom and sadness, while the jukebox plays in the background.