Lights in the Dusk(Laitakaupungin Valot)

Concluding his ‘Loser Trilogy’ is the tale of a lonely night watchman, whom the world has turned shadowy for holding old-fashioned virtues and humanity. When a mysterious blond’s sudden interest in him is revealed to be part of a plot to rob the mall, the surrogate victim passively accepts whatever cruelties come his way, spiralling down into prison and homelessness. Aki’s haunting musing on loneliness is tempered with an undertone of gallows humour, and a ‘justice’ that may be late but never absent: the dog finds a new owner, and the hapless man finds the hot dog girlfriend. Screening with Bico (2004, 6min).

Cannes Film Festival: In Competition