Lights in the Dusk

Lights in the Dusk (Laitakaupungin Valot), 2006
35mm, Color, 78’

The last installment in the Looser Trilogy is again a well-wrought nod to the film noir of the 1950s. The film is set in Helsinki which feels like a ghost town and revolves around the character Koistinen, a security guard whose name is constantly forgotten. Our protagonist with the expressionless face who acts as if disaster is imminent leads a solitary life but after an encounter with a femme fatale he finds himself framed for a heist. The director, who approaches protagonists living on the fringes of society with his own peculiar sense of humor, strikes a surprising balance between the tragic and the absurd. He boycotted his film being selected as the Finnish entry for the Academy Awards.