I must have watched George Cukor’s My Fair Lady 15 times as a child. And that’s not an exaggeration. During a recent moment of nostalgia, I searched for the film online and discovered that it’s nearly three hours long. A depressing moment, really, to realize that you had a longer attention span at 10 than at 22. But alas, we live in an impatient, restless time. The Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, however, wins our patience. His new film, Fallen Leaves, channels the aesthetic sensibilities of Wong Kar-Wai and Pedro Almodóvar—the deliberate pace of the former and the absurd storylines of the latter. A tale of love between two lonely and unlucky protagonists, Fallen Leaves shows how little it can take to experience profound romantic feelings. The movie, though animated by a vibrant soundtrack and color palette, moves slowly and quietly. For 81 minutes it immerses viewers in Finnish culture at its most threadbare, and confronts the difficulties of addiction, the yearning for connection, and the impact that small twists of fate can have on life. —Jeanne Malle