Lichter der Vorstadt (Lights in the Dusk, Laitakaupungin valot)
Finland/Germany/France 2006

Opening 21 Dec 2006

Directed by: Aki Kaurismäki
Writing credits: Aki Kaurismäki
Principal actors: Janne Hyytiäinen, Maria Heiskanen, Maria Järvenhelmi, Ilkka Koivula

Hamburgers met Finnish Director Aki Kaurismäki when he came to the city in 2002 to accept the Hamburg Filmfest’s Douglas Sirk prize. His newest film, Lights in the Dusk was finished just in time for the Cannes film festival. It is the third in a trilogy and features a working class man who aids in a robbery. After jail, he moves into a room for the homeless and takes a job, which he soon loses. He seems so utterly unable to protect himself from the vicissitudes of life that you wonder how he survived so long. He arouses motherly instincts, but doesn’t recognize a true friend when she attempts to help. This is a slow, calm film with appropriate background music (not always a given). (Becky Tan)