Janus Films Nabs Cannes Darling, Aki Kaurismaki’s Le Havre

With his second turn at a focused Eclipse box set looking at the director’s pieces revolving around the Leningrad Cowboys just announced for release this October, Aki Kaurismaki may have his first full fledged Criterion release coming up soon.

I had the pleasure to attend the Cannes Film Festival this year for the soon to be, sadly, defunct Gordon And The Whale (the site will be closing its doors on August 31, more on that here), and had the absolute pleasure of watching what may be one of the funniest films I’ve seen in years, Kaurismaki’s latest film, Le Havre.

I absolute adored that film, as I found it to be immensely charming, heartwarming, and dryly comedic (read my review here), and so did Janus Films.   The studio announced today (via indieWIRE) that they have picked up the North American rights to the film. The film follows a shoe shiner who comes across a young refugee, culminating in the two sparking quite a friendship.

Le Havre is a perfect choice for Janus, as it is a film that will definitely make quite a splash when it ultimately hits theaters, as it is both gorgeous (the film was shot on a camera once used by Ingmar Bergman) as well as charming as all hell.   The performances are top notch, and overall, Le Havre would be a wonderful addition to the Criterion Collection. It’s a great film looking at love, caring, and even a bit on immigration, so it is the perfect blend of meditative thematic discussion as well as pure heart felt comedy. Simply a fantastic film.

Source indieWIRE