La vie de boheme (1992)

Directed by: Aki Kaurismaki | 100 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Matti Pellonpää, Evelyne Didi, André Wilms, Kari Väänänen, Christine Murillo, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Laika, Carlos Salgado, Alexis Nitzer, Sylvie Van den Elsen, Gilles Charmant, Dominique Marcas, Samuel Fuller, Jean-Paul Wenzel, Louis Malle, André Penvern, Maximilien Regiani, Daniel Dublet, Philippe Dormoy, Louis Delamotte, Kenneth Colley, Michel Jacquet, Antonio Olivares, Helene Brousse, Sanna Fransman, Monique Goury, Jacques Cheuiche, Simon Murray, Mark Lavis, Irmeli Debarle, Jacques Leobold, Jean-Bernard Mateu, Jean-Luc Abel

Paris, the city of the fine arts. Anyone born as a bohemian will feel more at home in no other city than in the French capital. Paris has been a huge draw for artists of all shapes and sizes since the nineteenth century. As early as 1851, the French writer Henri Murger wrote his chronicle of novels ‘Scènes de la vie de bohème’, about penniless liberals in Paris. Aki Kaurismäki saw the novel 125 years later and was inspired by it. At that time – we are talking about 1976 – he was still delivering the mail in Helsinki. There was no indication that he would become the most famous film-maker in his country. The dream of one day turning Murger’s book into a film continued to excite him, even after he had made a career in the international film world. In the early 1990s, his dream came true with the release of the film ‘La vie de bohème’ (1992). Kaurismäki considered moving the story to Helsinki, but came to the conclusion that Murger was right when he said that ‘only in Paris can one live the life of a bohemian’.

In ‘La vie de bohème’ we meet three run-down, heavy drinking artists who try to make ends meet. Rodolfo (Matti Pellonpää) is an Albanian painter living illegally in France. In a bar he befriends author Marcel (André Wilms), who dreams of putting on a successful play. He was recently evicted from his house because he could no longer pay the rent, but because his things are still there, he returns with Rodolfo. The new tenant turns out to be the Irish avant-garde composer Schaunard (Kari Väänänen). The three soon become close friends, especially because they view the world in the same way. Their friendship is tested when women come into play. Marcel hooks up with Musette (Christine Murillo) and Rodolfo falls for the charms of barmaid Mimi (Evelyne Didi). The gentlemen finally have a purpose in their lives and suddenly take their art seriously again. It is not always easy for them to adapt to the opportunistic lifestyle of their men, especially when Rodolfo is deported. But a bohemian naturally returns to the place where he feels most at home, Paris.

In ‘La vie de bohème’, recorded in the Parisian suburb of Malakoff, Kaurismäki constantly balances on the edge of deliberately bold and honest drama. In between, he weaves particularly dryly comic scenes, which make the film light-hearted. A standard story of love and friendship – because that’s ‘La vie de bohème’ in fact, it will never be in the hands of Kaurismäki. Just take the woolly phrases the three artists say to each other. Their conversations are of course about the tragedy of the hard-working, sincere and benevolent artist who hardly receives any recognition and the decline of society, in which art no longer receives the appreciation it deserves. Their profession may be important to them, but the love and friendships are even more important. The detachment that Kaurismäki creates towards his unexpressive actors actually disappears towards the end when a drama brings the group even closer together. Then ‘La vie de bohème’ even manages to move you for a while. That makes the film the proverbial oddball in Kaurismäki’s oeuvre (more than the fact that the actors only speak French). The director cherishes his characters as much as they cherish each other. A warmth that we do not know from his other work.

Although many recognizable elements are reviewed – most striking of course is the presence of Matti Pellonpää, the Finnish master’s favorite actor – ‘La vie de bohème’ is an atypical Kaurismäki. The cool Finn actually seems thawed by the French sun, as he shows more love for his characters than in any other film. Certainly towards the end of ‘La vie de bohème’, the affection bursts off the screen. Kaurismäki like you’ve never seen it before!