Lights in the Dusk: Aki Kaurismäki’s deadpan crime drama follows a security guard in a dead-end job and rather lonely, until he meets a beautiful woman; what follows drinks from the noir tradition, adjusted by the director’s usual style. The performances, as expected, are very subdued, but that’s what makes a sudden smile hit so hard; Janne Hyytiäinen plays the protagonist, a man with a dream despite all that is not currently working in his life. Maria Järvenhelmi plays the glamurous girls that hooks him in, and Maria Heiskanen plays the other woman in his life. The supporting cast is filled with great faces playing bit roles. Cinematographer Timo Salminen elegantly captures the action; art director Markku Pätilä creates many dilapidated, but wonderfully coloured interiors (evocative of Edward Hopper’s paintings), which is an interesting contrast to the bleak nature of the film’s story.