Monday Night Film Series presents FALLEN LEAVES-FR

Event date(s): January 22, 2024
Time(s): 07:30 PM - 09:00 PM
Category: Fredericton
Location: Fredericton

The Monday Night Film Series presents FALLEN LEAVES on Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Tilley 102, UNB. 

Aki Kaurismäki’s (Le Havre, The Other Side of Hope, The Man Without a Past) 20th feature in 40 years, Fallen Leaves takes place in a very personalized version of Helsinki, one intimately familiar to longtime admirers of the Finnish director’s hilariously deadpan, fervently humanist tragicomedies. Ansa (Alma Pöysti, Tove) and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) spend their waking hours in drab workplaces, bars full of stone-faced patrons, and sparsely decorated homes in which a radio is the height of modern technology. Despite the decades that have passed between Kaurismäki’s latest and his Proletariat Trilogy (1986–90) — of which the director considers Fallen Leaves a belated extension — they all seem to take place in the same sad, strange world.

Yet within this space, viewers will find the richness of feeling that’s a hallmark of the director’s recent work. Fallen Leaves is also among his funniest movies, with Kaurismäki taking full advantage of all the sight gags and recurring jokes at his disposal. The material just gets richer as the bond between Ansa and Holappa deepens, their first encounter at a karaoke bar followed by an outing to a screening of Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die (one of many nods to Kaurismäki’s friends  and inspirations).

The couple’s chance for happiness feels all the more precious due to the film’s only significant acknowledgement of our present moment: news reports on the war in Ukraine, a source of anxiety in a country that shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia. This intrusion of the real adds another layer of poignancy to Kaurismäki’s celebration of the solace we may find in each other, if we’re brave enough to try.

“Fallen Leaves is another of Kaurismäki’s beguiling and delightful cinephile comedies, featuring foot-tapping rock’n’roll. It’s romantic and sweet-natured, in a deadpan style that in no way undermines or ironises the emotions involved and with some sharp things to say about contemporary politics.” –Peter Bradshaw The Guardian

This year, 30 limited release, independent foreign & Canadian films will be shown. Admission is $10/film, but a yearly film society membership reduces admission cost to $7/film. The series is open to all. Memberships are available at Tilley 102 every Monday night.

For further info, contact NB Film Co-op 455-1632  info@nbfilmcoop.com https://www.nbfilmcoop.com/monday-night-film-series

The NB Film Co-op in partnership with the UNB Faculty of Arts and the Toronto Film Festival presents the series.

Building: Tilley Hall

Room Number: 102