CONCRETE NIGHT
Betoniyö
"Stunning to look at and chilling at its core ... a visual knockout." – Hollywood Reporter
In a run-down Helsinki ghetto, 14-year-old Simo spends 24 hours with his dangerous older brother, Ilkka, as he prepares to go to prison. As they talk and drink and explore the concrete jungle they're trapped in, both Simo and Ilkka will find themselves pushed to the very edge by a city that wants to forget they exist.
Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name, Concrete Night is the bold new work from Finnish veteran, Pirjo Honkasalo (The 3 Rooms of Melancholia, MIFF 2005). Shot in lustrous black-and-white and unfurling with dreamlike intensity, the film is a haunting portrait of urban decay – a seething, atmospheric look at the discarded men and women who power our big-city dreams.
Winner of six Finnish film awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Cinematography.
"A mood piece and a poem, a coming-of-age story and a parable about how one generation warps the next." – Indiewire