Finland’s Aki Kaurismaki used to be a reliable source of poker-faced absurdist comedy (“Hamlet Goes Business,” “Leningrad Cowboys Go America”; the titles alone indicated the tone).
Recently, though, Kaurismaki has been taking himself more and more seriously – if remaining no less deadpan – as a social critic. “Drifting Clouds” had something to say about unemployment, “The Man Without a Past” took an eccentric view of loneliness, and both were sentimental in ways his earlier, satirical stuff studiously avoided.
Now there is “Lights in the Dusk,” which purports to be a study of loneliness in an alienating district of Helsinki. Maybe, but it actually plays out like the most listless film noir ever made. If it was funnier, I’d guess it was actually a depressive Nordic genre spoof. But except for a handful of obvious laughs, Kaurismaki seems to have intended something more along the lines of humorless French genius Robert Bresson’s masterpiece “Pickpocket.”
Except that that movie’s sublime and this one is anything but.
Sad-sack security guard Koistinen (Janne Hyytiainen) is so socially inept that even the other losers on his night shift refuse to drink with him. That makes him easy prey for Mirja, a femme fatale in a denim jacket (Maria Jarvenhelmi). Rather than drive a man nuts with desire, though, this particular ladytrap is more likely to bore him to death. But at least she vacuums (that’s one of the jokes, I think).
Anyway, Mirja quickly gets Koistinen to reveal everything her gangster cronies need to know for a jewel robbery. Mickeys are slipped, the patsy takes a fall, and even the one woman desperate enough to see something in this mope can’t seem to get through to him. You’ve seen it all before, only with energy.
Kaurismaki and his cinematographer Timo Salminen create gorgeously composed, exquisitely lit frames for their blank-staring subjects; even a dog that Koistinen gets beaten for trying to help looks narcotized.
Yes, the modern world seems to conspire against people like “Lights in the Dusk’s” antihero. But the impression that this isn’t partially Koistinen’s own ultra-passive, willfully clueless fault may be Kaurismaki’s most maudlin idea yet.
“Lights in the Dusk” | ** RATING
NOT RATED but includes some strong language and mild violence | 1 hour, 20 minutes | DRAMA |Directed by Aki Kaurismaki; in Finnish and Russian with subtitles; photography by Timo Salminen; starring Janne Hyytiainen, Maria Jarvenhelmi, Maria Heiskanen, Ilkka Koivula|Opens today at the Starz FilmCenter
