Le Havre

Le Havre might have many asking for a more credible modernity when depicting issues like illegal immigration and its social reaction, but the cinematic suspension of that 'real world' is a worthy exchange for the dry humour and uplifting hope one derives from this tender, unhurried little 'fairy tale' of a movie.

Having done the implausibility check, enjoy how it meshes quirky, Keatonesque plot lines with celebrations of simple communal kindness and regard for older, gentler mores, revealing, in Finnish director Aki Kauriskmäki's droll characters and vividly-paletted scenes, a quiet, compassionate empathy for pursued immigrants, some indulgent nods to French cinema past and a nostalgia-lite yearning for more heroically-caring times.

Among the delightful oddities of dialogue and observation is an unforgettably dream-inducing bar scene with a pineapple and a wonderfully-scripted pastiche police inspector.

Beautifully human and political in its own poignant, eccentric and timeless way.

John