Pimeys odottaa

A Finnish film noir pastiche from Kaurismäki "clan" member Pauli Pentti. Screenplay by Pentti and film critic Antti Lindqvist follows a young man (Pekka Valkeejärvi), who gets tangled in a web woven by a businessman and a corrupt police detective and concerning a night club singer (Riitta Havukainen). Stylized dialogue and laconic presentation bear a strong Kaurismäki signature. Then brand-new Helsinki subway system is a backdrop for many scenes, while the trench coats characters wear allude to the worlds of Humphrey Bogart and Jean-Pierre Melville. Somewhat thin and very short, this is still quite enjoyable exercise for fans of Finnish cinema.