Finland, 2023, 81 mins.
DIRECTOR: Aki Kaurismaki
WITH: Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen
Ansa is a shelf-stacker who is fired over pocketing an expiring sandwich and Holappa is a construction worker on the sauce. When their awkward encounter at a karaoke bar ends with a telephone number exchange, a tragically beautiful gust of wind sweeps the little piece of paper out of Holappa’s hands. If it’s fate, they’ll meet again. Finnish maestro Aki Kaurismäki remains true to himself with this absurdist, warm-hearted melodrama. Fallen Leaves is a fated love story between two workers who can't keep a job in Helsinki’s dwindling manual labour market. Fallen Leaves is a tribute to Leo McCarey’s 1957 film An Affair to Remember, with a nod to Jim Jarmusch’s zombie film.
"A bittersweet cinephile romance" - Giovanni Marchini Camia, Sight and Sound.
The Cambridge Film Festival is presented by the Cambridge Film Trust, a registered charity with a mission to foster film culture and education for the benefit of the public, in Cambridge, the Eastern region, and throughout the UK.
