With almost twenty narrative features to his name, Aki Kaurismäki is one of the most consistent directors in terms of quality that is working today. Now returning with his first film in over half-a-decade, Fallen Leaves picked up the Jury Prize from this year’s Cannes and was selected as Finland’s Oscar entry. Telling the story of two lonely people (Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen) who meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night and try to find the first, only, and ultimate love of their lives, MUBI will release the film on November 17 and now the first full trailer has arrived.
Rory O’Connor said in his Cannes review it’s “a charming, moving, bittersweet romance packed with all the lovely things we’ve come to associate with him after four decades.” As he continued, “The locations and colors still come in admirable shades of mustard and pea soup––as do the characters and their moods. As a film, Fallen Leaves could hardly be simpler––two people living separate, lonesome lives meet and maybe fall in love––but there is beauty in that simplicity and, as ever, Kaurismäki’s characters live far richer inner lives.”
See the trailer and poster below.
Fallen Leaves opens on November 17.