Abstract

In this paper, I propose a comparative study of the feature film Fallen Leaves (2023), by Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, and The Day I Met You (2023), by Brazilian filmmaker André Novais Oliveira. The proposal is to analyze the similarities in the plot surrounding courtship and falling in love, particularly regarding the representation of these instances in subaltern and proletarian social classes. Taking as a reference some discussions around art and cinema in the works of Benjamin, Adorno, Žižek, and Mark Fisher, among others, the objective is to reflect on the neoliberal ideological infiltration in these works, unveiling their value of truth and falsehood, as well as the emancipatory and reifying elements in their representation of human relationships. Each one in its own way, the works show the consolidation of love bonds based on feelings of compassion and class solidarity. In this way, they seem to convey notions of love and relationship that are quite different from those bequeathed by bourgeois romanticism.