La vie de bohème (1992)

It was interesting watching this film after seeing La Havre. There are so many echoes between the films. It sort of makes me wonder: Was the more recent film always intended as a follow-up to this one? Perhaps while developing the second script, the parallels just became so apparent that the only way to deflect cries of repetition, was to just own it. By simply saying that André Wilms is playing the same character in both films, you find yourself paying more attention to the differences than the similarities. All the same narrative and thematic sign posts are there (suburban French setting, lovable bohemian protagonist with money problems, long-suffering love interest with health problems, immigration issues, Jean-Pierre Léaud, a dog, etc.) yet the approach seems wholly different. I don't want to say it's as simple as the difference between black & white and color, but it almost kind of is.Dare I say that Aki Kaurismäki has become a more optimistic man in the last twenty years? Regardless of what order you watch them in, the dialogue between these films is wonderful and fascinating.