Product Details

• Actors: Matti Pellonpää, Evelyne Didi, André Wilms, Kari Väänänen, Christine Murillo
• Directors: Aki Kaurismäki
• Writers: Aki Kaurismäki, Henri Murger
• Producers: Aki Kaurismäki, Francis Boespflug, Klaus Heydemann, Paula Oinonen
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: French
• Subtitles: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Kino International
• VHS Release Date: October 13, 1997
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303103006
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,715 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker
Aki KaurismŠki's new film is a beautiful comedy about down-and-out artists. The source material is Henri Murger's "Scènes de la vie de Bohème," which was published in the mid-nineteenth century. The movie's action takes place in modern-day Paris, but everything on the screen has a timeless, almost archaic feel. KaurismŠki has created a kind of twilight world, half reverent, half ironic, which allows the ideals and the ardor of the nineteenth-century artist to persist, improbably, in these less idealistic, less ardent times. The three heroes-a painter (Matti PellonpŠŠ), a writer (Andre Wilms), and a musician (Kari VŠŠnŠnen)-all look to be on the wrong side of forty, and they have the peculiar dignity of aging innocents who have long since stopped worrying about looking silly. KaurismŠki (who also wrote the screenplay) finds the loveliest, most delicate humor in this brotherhood of outcasts. Also with Evelyne Didi, Christine Murillo, Jean-Pierre Léaud, and a silky black dog named Laika, who represents his species nobly. The elegant black-and-white cinematography is by Timo Salminen. In French. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Product Description
A witty look at life from the perspective of some starving artists. Comic events involve love, work, and of course, art.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dry and Wry, you'll find yourself thinking about it for days, June 11, 1999

By A Customer

If you have not seen the films of Ari Kaurismaki (Leningrad Cowboys go America is the one most likely to turn up in Blockbuster), you are really missing a unique international film experience. Like Jim Jarmusch, who placed a vignette of his in "Night on Earth", Kaurismauki's films move at a liesurely pace, yet every frame is full of meaning. Anyone who has visited Bohemia or its fringes will appreciate the 3 hapless protaginists in "La Boheme". Their very survival, let alone their success as artists, seems to hang on dumb luck. When their luck is good, or mildly unfortunate, the film is wryly funny. When their luck turns bad, the film projects a certain sadness that never turns to bathos. La Boheme is as beautifully filmed black and white as I've seen in a modern film.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beatiful, Quiet and Hilarious, August 7, 2002

By A Customer

A relaxed feeling, wonderful sound and music, beautiful cinematography, unusual Paris locations and... its hilarious.I've seen many films from all over the world - I keep coming back to this one. No matter how many times I've seen it I find something new. Very different from Aki Kaurismaki's "Leningrad Cowboys". Cameo apperances by Louis Malle and Sam Fuller. Matti Pellonpaa, who plays Rodolfo in the film, died not too long after the release. One of my all-time favorite films.