MovieChat Forums > Le Havre (2011) Discussion > Simplistic? (spoilers)

Simplistic? (spoilers)


I should start by saying that I like the sweetness and humor of this film, and also the photography. And like the director, I love to see people of different races and cultures interacting and living harmoniously in one society.

Recently, I ran at the subway in Europe into a crowd of neo-nazis who insulted a Muslim lady that was wearing a headscarf. They banged the walls and roof of the subway train, thumped their feet, made sounds like apes, screamed ugly names – and by doing all this, they were suggesting that the lady, who stood in the most dignified manner, was primitive. In their pathetic ignorance, they failed to see the irony. Well, it's easy to choose between their hateful, extremist approach and Kaurismäki's message of compassion and brotherhood. The director is right in pointing at the suffering and desperation that illegal immigrants from Africa have to endure as they move from their poor countries to Europe, looking for opportunities and hope. So many of them die on their way...

However, I do wonder whether Kaurismäki isn't oversimplifying the issue of illegal immigration by not even hinting at the problems that are attached to the arrival of huge waves of undocumented people. As the numbers relentlessly keep growing, the risk of chaos only increases. I quote an article from The Huffington Post:

Official data for 2013 is not yet available from Spain — but already in the first three months of [2014], the number of migrants making it into Melilla has surpassed the estimated 1,000 who got in last year. On March 18 alone, a record 500 people made it over, while weeks before the Moroccans blocked another 700 migrants— numbers unheard of in the past.

The increasing pressure of African immigration is felt across Europe, with the U.N. reporting a 300 percent rise in migrants this spring attempting boat crossings to Lampedusa.

Italy picked up some 4,000 migrants at sea in the last two days alone, the government said Wednesday. This year, 15,000 migrants have already been rescued by Italy, with another 300,000 waiting in Libya to board dangerously unsafe smuggling boats.


There's reason to be concerned by those figures. Spain's economy is in trouble and they're already dealing with terrible unemployment. How is the government going to provide work, housing, education, health care, etc. for all the illegal immigrants that keep arriving? Without the right environment and skills, even a good kid like Idrissa in the film can end up participating in crime, joining a violent gang, begging on the streets indefinitely... It could happen to anyone under the same conditions. There's also the threat of terrorism. Kaurismäki seems to scoff at this idea at the start of the film, when Al Qaeda is mentioned after showing the obviously harmless illegal immigrants that Idrissa arrives with. But unfortunately, the threat of terrorism is real and violence of the kind is experienced nearly daily around the world. While it's true that most illegal immigrants mean no harm to anyone, a few extremists can cause a lot of damage, not only to Europeans but also to all the other immigrants who are living in wealthier nations harmoniously. Some order is necessary. It is precisely part of what makes some countries better places to live in. I feel that Kaurismäki's message is beautiful in essence but also a bit facile. Yes, compassion must be part of the solution, but there has to be a strategy. If help is too short-sighted, it can be counterproductive. As the saying goes, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Perhaps I'm interpreting the film too rationally? The ending, in which Marcel's wife, Arletty, recovers from her deadly condition, seems to suggest that love alone, having the heart in the right place, is sometimes enough to cause miracles. But is that what we're hoping for at this point? A miracle?

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It's certainly a complex issue and always leaves me torn. I feel terrible for people who live in misery and fully understand why they want to escape. At the same time, countries do have a right to protect their borders and they have finite resources to deal with poverty. There are no simple solutions. (I guess the simplest is to try to develop the economies of the countries the illegal immigrants are coming from.)

As for whether Kaurismäki is intending to make a strong point about the issue, I don't really know. It revolves only around a single person; we aren't really told what's happened to the rest that were on the boat from Gabon. Also, we actually don't know if Idrissa makes it to his mother in London or not, or whether they'll even be safe there long-term. We just see him sail away.

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