Lights in the Dusk

Friday, December 16 - Sunday, December 18, 2011

“A mood of cosmic desolation seeps like late autumn sunlight filtered through clouds in LIGHTS IN THE DUSK, the Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki’s haunting meditation on the downward spiral of a solitary loser in contemporary Helsinki. This hapless everyman, Koistinen (Janne Hyytiainen), a night watchman for a security company, patrols a block of stores that include a fancy jewelry shop ripe for burglary. Koistinen, who dreams of running his own security operation, leads a life of continual humiliation. His colleagues ridicule him for not having a girlfriend. He receives suspicious, hostile glances when shopping in the supermarket. When seeking a bank loan, he shows his trade school diploma and the officer sneers, ‘Are you some sort of comedian?’ before dismissing him as ‘trash.’ LIGHTS IN THE DUSK is a portrait of loneliness. A sense of aching distance and isolation is palpable in every frame of the film, which portrays Helsinki as a bleak, shadowy Edward Hopper cityscape.” — Stephen Holden, New York Times

• Country Finland/Germany/France
• Language In Finnish and Russian with English subtitles
• Rating NR
• Year 2006
• Running Time 78 minutes
• Director Aki Kaurismäki

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.