Stylistically, the films of the Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki are distinct and unmistakable: tragicomic, laconic, visually exciting and timeless. This makes his films extraordinary, composed and wondrous. In Fallen Blätter too, Kaurismäki has done an outstanding job of negotiating the fine line between cult and the poetry of the everyday, as he lets two lonely souls in a bleak location—Hollapa, an alcoholic, and Ansa, a super market cashier—meet and spend the duration of this wonderful film getting to know each other. "Aki Kaurismäki has outdone himself: Fallende Blätter is a late masterpiece." artechock