This melancholic tragicomedy is typical of the work of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki (The Man Without A Past, Drifting Clouds). Fallen Leaves incorporates everything that makes his work so unique: a mix of Chaplin, melancholy jukebox music and stoic Finns uttering dryly comic one-liners with a straight face – and a drink too many. And of course this film is also about love, because love is what the world needs. At the Cannes Film Festival, the Finn – who, like the characters in his films, enjoys a drink or two – announced that he will make his next film with the same actors: ‘Because I accidentally promised them that; I would rather swap them.’ (mv)