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Thu, Feb 22, 2007
at 9:15 PM
Fri, Feb 23, 2007
at 9:30 PM
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DIRECTOR: AKI KAURISMäKI
FINLAND
"The final installment of Kaurismäki's 'Loser Trilogy' follows its predecessors' themes of unemployment and homelessness with that of loneliness. Shy night watchman Koistinen is virtually ostracized by his fellow security guards and lives alone in a modest apartment until he meets Mirja, who seems to respond sympathetically to his slightly old–fashioned, even gentlemanly manner. Kaurismäki's delightfully delicate cautionary fable charts his unassuming hero's decent into an unforeseen nightmare of deceit and violence with a characteristically low–key blend of humane compassion and deadpan mordant humor. The distinctively bittersweet tone is deftly maintained not only by the laconic performances but by cinematographer Timo Salminen's superb–as–ever evocation of nocturnal Helsinki and by a beautifully judged music track that juxtaposes Puccini with the –tangos of both Carlos Gardel (his 'Volver') and Finland's own Olavi Virta. A poignant reminder of the lot of the emotional 'have–nots' in our world, this dark jewel of a film glows with genuine warmth and a small but enriching glimmer of hope."—London Film Festival. ( 80 min )
Selected Filmography: Crime and Punishment (83), Hamlet Goes Business (87), The Match Factory Girl (90), La Vie de Bohème (92), Drifting Clouds (96), The Man Without a Past (02).
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