La Vie De Boheme

Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki has taken the mid-19th century stories by Henri Murger and re-fashioned them into a modern, romanticist tale of the plight of a trio of marginal artists. Filmed in black and white, LA VIE DE BOHEME even opens with a scene reminiscent of French films from the early '30s, picturesque Paris rooftops with the Eiffel Tower in the background. But Kaurismaki's camera almost immediately descends to a squalid courtyard where a drunk is rummaging for empty wine bottles to hand in for a free drink.

The drunk turns out to be writer Marcel Marx (Andre Wilms), who needs a drink to compensate for one more publisher's rejection. When questioned...