La Vie De Boheme

Matti Pellonpaa in La Vie De Boheme

Aki Kaurismaki's 1992 version of the Henry Murger book which was the source material for umpteen films, Puccini's opera, Leoncavallo's opera. and, yes, Rent, is one of his most audience friendly films. His deadpan absurdism is a snug fit with Murger's mix of humor and pathos. Timo Salminen's black and white cinematography gives a magical sparkle to a subject which threatens to submerge in a despond of realism. Kaurismaki's growing interest in the plight of refugees surfaces here. Over two decades later, Andre Wilms would reprise his role as the writer Marcel Marx for Kaurismaki in Le Havre, a film wholly focused on Europe's growing refugee crisis.