| Photography: | Timo Salminen |
| Screenplay: | Aki Kaurismäki |
| Production: | Sputnik OY, Pyramide Productions, Pandora Film, ZDF Arte |
| Editing: | Timo Linnasalo |
| Sales: | The Match Factory |
Former author and bohemian Marcel Marx (André Wilms) lives in voluntary exile in the French port town of Le Havre in the company of his wife Arletta (Kati Outinen) and their dog Lajka. He abandoned his dreams of a great literary breakthrough and became a bootblack. One day, the fate crosses his path with that of Idrissa Saleh, illegal refugee from African Gabon. The boy is at his wits’ end and Marx decides to help him, which results in a flurry of dramatic and humorous situations. It is the first motion picture by the notorious Finnish sceptic that radiates hope.
Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki (born 1957 in Orimattila) is the master of scepticism, sad humour and dialogue. He earned worldwide attention with his film Leningrad Cowboys Go America. His cinematic language has been influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville and Robert Bresson. His simple stories are built on antiheroes and anti-acting. In 2003 he boycotted the New York IFF because Iranian director Abbás Kiarostami had not been issued American visa. Kaurismäki became famous for his statement that he hates the Cannes film festival. He is also a sworn opponent of globalization. “People in Finland should eat cod and technological progress should have stopped with fax and we would all be happy,” he said.
