La Vie de Bohème (1992)

Three struggling artists try to make passable livings in Paris despite knock backs and tragedies.

Director:

Aki Kaurismäki

Writers:

Henri Murger (based on the novel by: "Scènes de la vie de bohème"), Aki Kaurismäki

Stars:

Matti Pellonpää, Evelyne Didi, André Wilms

5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matti Pellonpää	...	Rodolfo
Evelyne Didi	...	Mimi
André Wilms	...	Marcel Marx
Kari Väänänen	...	Schaunard
Christine Murillo	...	Musette
Jean-Pierre Léaud	...	Blancheron
Laika	...	Baudelaire
Carlos Salgado	...	Garcon de café
Alexis Nitzer	...	Henri Bernard
Sylvie Van den Elsen	...	Mme. Bernard
Gilles Charmant	...	Groupe rock
Dominique Marcas	...	Brocanteuse
Samuel Fuller	...	Gassot
Jean-Paul Wenzel	...	Francis
Louis Malle	...	Gentleman

Storyline

Three penniless artists become friends in modern-day Paris: Rodolfo, an Albanian painter with no visa, Marcel, a playwright and magazine editor with no publisher, and Schaunard, a post-modernist composer of execrable noise. Rodolfo falls in love with Mimi, a barmaid. The day he asks her to move in with him, he is deported. Six months later, he sneaks back to Paris, and Mimi leaves her new boyfriend to be with him. Conflicts arise, especially around their poverty, and soon Mimi and Rodolfo separate, as do Marcel and his Musette. The three men scrape together a meal to celebrate All Saints' Day, and Mimi arrives, ill. Can her friends bring her back to health? Can love rekindle?

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Plot Keywords:

painting | based on novel | exile | friend | artist | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Finland France Sweden Germany

Language:

French

Release Date:

29 July 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

La Vie de Bohème

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sputnik,Pyramide Productions,Films A2

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Aki Kaurismäki spend years trying to write an adaptation of Henri Murgen's novel with Helsinki in mind as a shooting-location. But finally he came to a conclusion that Paris is the only place where the film could be made.

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Connections

Spin-off Le Havre (2011)

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Soundtracks

Bird Dance Beat
Composed by G. Garrett
Performed by The Fake Trashmen (playback)

User Reviews

A Finnish take on "La Boheme"

Although Aki Kaurismaki credits Henri Murger's collection of stories as the source for his "La vie de boheme" (1992), the underlying dramatic structure actually comes straight from Puccini's opera "La boheme" (with the central focus of the story of Rodolphe and Mimi). Superb black and white photography, with a droll script delivered by mostly dead-pan (but nonetheless funny) performers -- including beloved regulars like the late Matti Pellonpaa and Kari Vaananen (Kati Outinen, a very appropriate Mimi I would think, was missing, however -- maybe her French was not good enough).