Finnish writer-director Aki Kaurismäki returns to the big screen for the first time since 2017 with his poignant working class tragicomedy, “Fallen Leaves”. It’s said to be a continuation of his Proletariat Trilogy which consisted of 1986’s “Shadow of Paradise”, 1988’s “Ariel”, and 1990’s “The Match Factory Girl”. Kaurismäki’s latest sees him once again melding deadpan drama, pinpoint humor, and warm humanism into something refreshingly classical and true to his form.

The imprints of Kaurismäki’s longtime influences (Yasujirō Ozu, Robert Bresson, Jean-Pierre Melville, etc.) are clearly seen in “Fallen Leaves”. He’s once again working within a familiar socioeconomic sphere – one frequently explored by contemporaries like the Dardenne brothers. And as you watch it’s easy to see why he’s often sited as an influence for filmmakers such as Jim Jarmusch and Wes Anderson. Yet despite all of these notable connections, Kaurismäki’s minimalistic and slightly enigmatic style remains distinctly his own.

The auteur once again sets his story in Helsinki which he intentionally portrays as unromantically as possible. More intriguing is the mystery of the time period. News broadcasts reporting on the war between Russia and the Ukraine makes it feel very modern day. A calendar on a wall seems to indicate it’s set in the near future. But old corded phones, vintage tube radios, and even some clothing styles are evocations of times past.

Kaurismäki plants our feet in a well-defined blue-collar sector of Helsinki. There we’re introduced to two people, both caught in the gears of a grinding, soul-crushing system that offers little empathy and no lifelines. Kaurismäki’s camera, often still and observing, gives us a good sense of the city’s harsh realities yet finds humor in the most unexpected moments. Even more, there is a surprising sweetness which plays out even as the cruelty of fate attempts to undermine it.

Ansa (Alma Pöysti) stocks shelves at a grocery store but is fired after taking an expired sandwich that’s about to be tossed in the dumpster. She gets a job washing dishes at a pub but loses it after the owner is busted for dealing drugs. So she ends up on a factory floor, barely making enough to get by in the tiny one-room apartment she inherited from her family.

Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) is a construction worker stuck in a low-paying job, but one that allows him to live in a worksite trailer with his friend, Hannes (a terrific Janne Hyytiäinen playing a self-deluded ladies man and karaoke virtuoso). But Holappa compounds his already difficult circumstances with his heavy drinking, which is both a cause and a result of his reoccurring depression.

Ansa and Holappa eventually cross paths and a relationship soon forms between the awkwardly quiet pair. It starts as a cup of coffee and progresses to a movie (our deadpan daters go see Jarmusch’s zombie comedy “The Dead Don’t Die” to which Ansa seriously but hilariously utters “I’ve never laughed so much.”). But a few unfortunate blunders, such as not sharing their names and losing phone numbers, threaten to derail this budding romance. Yet again it seems as if fate is working against them.

Along with the delightfully dry humor, delicate emotions, and bittersweet romance, there’s also a subtle but steady undercurrent of critique from a filmmaker who has often spoke up for the disaffected and marginalized in his native Finland. As with Kaurismäki’s other films, his perspective is clear but never overbearing or intrusive. And when combined with his wry and often melancholic tenor, it conveys a clear message within an otherwise placid and transcendent love story.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS