Lights in the Dusk (2006)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Plot: A lonely security guard is manipulated by a femme fatale working for a gang of jewel thievesThis is a film that is so bleak that it actually becomes very funny, in a slightly hysterical sort of way. It was recently broadcast in the UK at 2am, which must have made for a surreal viewing experience. The plot is minimal, the characterisation light, and the script short. Much of the film is taken up with long silences (in which the characters smoke), songs being played in full, and lengthy shots (check out the one of a card game in the gangster's den, where the femme fatale vacuums the carpet). The protagonist never actually does anything, preferring to simply let events wash over him, and for a thriller there are no thrills. Nor is there any action, or humour, or human warmth (the final shot excepted). Nonetheless, the film is gripping in a curious way, its bleakness and underdog hero proving strangely compulsive viewing.

Night watchman Koiskinen lives an alienated life. Ridiculed and shunned by his workmates, regarded as incompetent by his employers, he lives alone, drinks alone, and only manages to talk in any decent way with the woman who sell hot dogs in the fast food stand. His life changes when a mysterious blond takes a sudden and unexpected interest in him.As a Kaurismaki novice, I was struck by the spartan sets, strong primary colours, and the actors penchant for walking briskly into frames and then freezing, akin to amateur theatre in the village hall. Once you figure out it is all a send up, the film is fun and moves along quickly enough. The dry, pared down dialogue, lack of sentiment, and black humour are interspersed judiciously. There seems to be a record attempt for number of cigarettes smoked in a film going on. The Finnish attitude to alcohol makes Scotland seem like Utah. Throughout it all, Koiskinen infuriates with his passivity. His minor triumph at the end, finally making the right decision, is small, fleeting and perfect in this context. The film is both downbeat and uplifting. I don't recommend watching Kaurismaki films back-to-back, but as an antidote to an overdose of Transformers or Harry Potter, this works perfectly.

This movie sucked. I cannot say anything good about this Finlandia movie. If the style was not done intentionally the director, Aki Kaurismaki, needs to be prevented from ever making another film in his life. And if his kids ever want to make a movie they should be prevented as well just on the principle of who their father is. All through this, thankfully, short movie I kept wondering if this was being done on purpose. It wasn't sure if he wasn't trying to be funny. I'm almost interested in finding a few other Finnish movies to see if this is the norm. I've heard that Finland has the most depressed people with the highest suicide rate. Watch this movie and you'll want to kill yourself too.

"Lights in the Dusk" was an incredible experience visually. It was as if Kaurismaki stitched together a series of modernist masters of various genres--Hopper, Bauhaus, Mondrian, Brutalism. Every scene was carefully planned by a man with a painterly eye for color and form. The characters/actors were living versions of Georg Grosz caricatures. The femme fatale had one of the worst complexions I've ever seen powdered over on a leading lady; a metaphor, perhaps, for her soul.Unfortunately, the story did not have the holding power of the earlier "The Man Without A Past," one of my all-time favorite movies. The (anti) hero, a handsome loser, is just too wimpy. Ultimately he almost seems to deserve everything that happens to him, except for the enduring love of one good woman.I was intensely disappointed by this movie although I'm glad I experienced it.