Fallen Leaves

Finland’s leading filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki (“Le Havre,” “The Other Side of Hope”) won the coveted Grand Jury Prize at Cannes this year with “Fallen Leaves,” his latest cinematic fable about would-be lovers on the wrong side of luck. This pair, Ansa (Alma Pöysti) and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen), are adrift in a contemporary Helsinki that feels oddly out of time – something like a B-movie backlot at times – a couple drawn together by karaoke and classic cinema. Thwarted by an array of mishaps. their romantic spark flickers erratically as haphazard paths lead toward a mutual destiny.