Concrete Night

In this dreary and pretentious Finnish faux-noir, a teenage boy named Simo (Johannes Brotherus) spends a dark night of the soul in the company of his older brother, Ilkka (Jari Virman), during the latter's last hours of freedom prior to surrendering to prison. Growing up in a broken-down housing project with a needy, manipulative mother (Anneli Karpennin), Simo has no one but the unpredictable Ilkka to look up to. Like a bad take on one of Fellini's grotesque-filled urban journeys, Concrete Night conjures up a Helsinki-after-dark that is populated with freaks, drug users, and mobsters, although the most dangerous thing that happens is when Simo is denied a beer for being underage. Director Pirjo Honkasalo, an experienced cinematographer, serves up intense and atmospheric visuals that unfortunately eclipse any narrative substance. But the worst thing here is the script's simpleminded existentialist takes on life, including Ilkka's description of a man's evolution as a series of dog-eat-dog victories. Not recommended. (T. Keogh)