Today’s film begs the odd question: can losers find romantic happiness? Set in Finland -obviously a tale that wouldn’t dare be made in a country with an ego like ours- Fallen Leaves tells the tale of two of life’s casualties giving themselves one more opportunity to be flung by immense centripetal force off the endlessly-gyrating-merry-go-round of romance. And these two already have scars.
Our two heroes are not good at employment. Ansa (Alma Pöysti) starts the movie as a low-level supermarket clerk who gets fires for helping herself (and the homeless) to the expired store rejects. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) has a more lucrative skill set as a metallurgist. Holappa isn’t great, however, at rules, specifically the ones discouraging alcohol consumption at work. He’s one of those guys that hides bottles all over his workplace which seems pretty redundant as he keeps an open flask with him at all times.
These two are losers in the classic sense of the word. Ansa lives alone. Holappa gets to live wherever he’s employed. If he’s unemployed, that’s nowhere. We imagine most romance as whirlwind affairs, spontaneous kisses, grandiose gestures of affection, not-so-grandiose gestures of affection, dancing, drinking, carousing, and intense sack wrestling.
That ain’t this film.
Ansa and Holappa sort of see one another as their last chance. They’re probably not wrong. But they can’t help being losers (like when Holappa misplaces Ansa’s cell number within five seconds o
f receiving it) and they can’t help being Finnish, which means that smiles, guffaws, and PDAs are replaced with comfortable and uncomfortable stoicism. True, they meet at a karaoke bar, but only their friends are true believers of making the most out of a night on the town. Our heroes are not part of the lampshade club.
The film emphasizes the down-to-earth nature of the romance with constant and almost comic reminders of the current war in Ukraine every.single.time a radio or television is turned on. Our heroes themselves seem in no big hurry to get anything started. “Oh, you may well be my last chance at happiness, but I’m not that easy, pal.” Every date they’re on, we wonder how much is being spent and where is the money coming from. Ansa has, quite literally, no income. It is a very good thing both of them live in a country with decent health care.
Fallen Leaves is not your usual romance. I’ve offered for years that the key to decent romance is audience desire to fall in love with the people falling in love on screen. This is the exception. I found neither Ansa nor Holappa to be somebody I wish I were romancing, quite the opposite, in fact. But I liked how they worked together and I wanted life to be kind to them because it seems like both could use a break or two. This is not a fairytale romance and, in fact, the far-fetched elements in the film all seem to work against the couple rather than for them. And this ain’t exactly Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence; perhaps that’s exactly what I enjoyed about this film. It’s sadly relatable in a way most film romances are not.
There once lives two loser Finns
Alienated for their short-coming sins
But they found one another.
And then, oh brother
They proceeded to negate all their wins
Not Rated, 81 Minutes
Director: Aki Kaurismäki
Writer: Aki Kaurismäki
Genre: Caught in a sad romance
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Hopeless romantics
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Elitists
