TMS Movie Review: Fallen Leaves
(Bufo / Mubi)
There are romance fans who love movies like Garry Marshall’s Pretty Woman (1990), Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail (1998) and Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up (2007); and there are romance fans who prefer Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977), Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (2003) and Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). The distinction between mainstream studio romcoms and artsy/indie romantic dramedies is pretty broad in entertainment. It generally boils down to whether you want a fairytale ending or bittersweet conclusion. I’ve always appreciated both, and we got each to end 2023 in the form of Will Gluck’s Anyone But You and Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves.
For those who didn’t appreciate all of the romcom tropes wildly thrown in the audience’s faces in Anyone But You, Fallen Leaves goes the opposite route of quiet low maintenance. Set in modern day Helsinki, Finland, Ansa (Alma Pöysti) is a single woman struggling to pay her bills when she’s unfairly fired from her grocery store job after sneaking expired food in her bag. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) is an anti-social construction worker with a drinking problem who also loses his job after failing a drug test. After the two meet at karaoke night in a local pub, an attraction is formed and they are brought together through various circumstances.
(Bufo / Mubi)
Fallen Leaves is being marketed as a romantic comedy [see Pöysti’s nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy at the recent Golden Globes] but it could arguably be seen as more of a laid back drama, or at most a dramedy, depending on the viewer. The stakes aren’t high, and the laughs can be closer to comic relief. It’s just two ordinary people trying to make it through the day while also giving dating a shot. Though the subject of each character’s dilemma in Fallen Leaves is serious, Kaurismäki’s execution isn’t depressing or sappy, and successfully keeps the tone authentic. The leads portray Ansa and Holappa with warmth through their everyday baggage and their interactions make us smile. The set design is a unique mix of modern and retro technology and architecture because of the characters’ financial status; plus aid the peculiarities of some surreal moments that are neither fantasy nor nightmarish. The atmosphere is reminiscent of a vivid dream one would have where things feel ‘real,’ but something is off. This is a very human picture that also supports idealistic tendencies like fate, romance and second chances. While something like Anyone But You requires you to suspend your disbelief, Fallen Leaves suggests it’s ok for the suspension to be loosened up at times too.