Samba is the name of a dance, which brings reasons for revelry to countless people; Samba is also the name of a person, which makes people depressed and tired.
Samba came to France from Africa, but after ten years of hard work, she could not get a long-term residence permit; Alice ran away from a glamorous big company to recuperate, but she could not escape from the narrow city and the narrow state of mind added to her torment . One wants to go in, one wants to come out.
The world is so absurd, powerless to fight, powerless to escape, but still powerless to live, behind this superficial "powerlessness", there seems to be a little tireless "brute force" that pushes every individual in the flow of people. walk forward.
The film unfolds the overall situation from the perspective of Samba, and the smooth camera transition takes us into a world of immigrants, an underground world full of longing, hope, hiding and dealing. Don't wear casual clothes, don't evade fares, don't take the bus and subway after six o'clock, don't bring ethnic jewelry, wear a suit, bring a briefcase, and bring a magazine. It's like being French. Uncle Samba's "education" seems very reasonable, but it actually hides the situation in which foreigners try to hide their identities: they want to be like locals, but they can't get rid of the marks left by their bloodlines. So did Jonah. And so are thousands of immigrants, especially illegally.
Sudden love broke Samba's hard life. Alice never cares about status and status. For her, long-term work pressure is the enemy. Depressed for a long time and cannot be indulged, maybe what Alice's life lacks is "Samba". Misunderstandings, quarrels, splits and closes between lovers, the screenwriter did not give too much exploration to the breakthrough of the story, the relaxed tone may be intended to emphasize the resolution of contradictions and conflicts, whether it is identity, or love trivia .
Uncle Samba's views on clothing are indeed "self-contained", and Samba's lucky jersey shows Samba's recognition of his own identity and cultural confidence. As a younger immigrant, Samba contrasts with his conservative uncle. He does not hesitate to use fake identities one after another as a cover, but he is also afraid of "forgetting his name". A "Samba" gradually lost his identity and was gradually infected by the local culture. This is the fear of immigrants and the fear of the immigrant.
On the other hand, Wilson, who is also from Africa, "candidly" disclosed his identity as an outsider, but borrowed his Brazilian identity to win people's favor. Adding a comic element to Wilson is not ruled out for the coordination of the story, but the double escape from Algeria and France does playfully indicate the spiritual detachment of the outsiders.
The belated kiss between Alice and Samba is the highlight of the film. When Alice hesitated to finally understand the meaning of samba, the two "officially" conducted a "modern" "farewell etiquette". This kiss represented Alice's acceptance of samba and France's acceptance of foreign cultures. inclusion and acceptance. Afterwards, we saw Alice wearing a samba lucky suit under the suit, that is, the symbiosis of the two cultures.
From the beginning to the end of the film, there is no clear motive for Alice's emotions - this is not necessary for a love story, but when it comes to many factors such as region, culture, emotion, family, etc., the protagonist's unreasonable favor is inevitable. Unable to stand. The director gave Samba a happy ending, but the audience in front of the screen may have their own thoughts. The film is destined to speak for the weak from the very beginning. This is all right, but blind acceptance is just as unreasonable as rejection. This can neither point to the true psychology of outsiders, nor explain all the feelings of the locals. In the end, it is impossible to solve the problem of the geographical destination and identity of outsiders.
"Le Havre", which also belongs to the theme of illegal immigration, subtly resolves this problem. There are no blunt love plots, and Aki Kaurismaki tells the story with a consistent focus on the little people. The simple and low-key images show a story that seems to be happening around us. The retro and nostalgic atmosphere pulls people into the frame and becomes a common experiencer of the protagonist's fate. After the male protagonist sent the boy away, there were still policemen who were searching for them on the shore, but in the warmth of the world, there was something more important than searching for illegal immigrants.
As Samba's story comes to an end, as he moves away from French coats and into a new life, it's hard to be sure that other immigrants will have the same good fortune.
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