Any dreams of prosperity and freedom once promised by the switch to unbridled capitalism in the former Soviet Union are crushed in A Friend Of The Deceased, a biting satire from Ukrainian director Vyacheslav Krishtofovich (Adam's Rib). Pressing right on the edges of tragedy, Krishtofovich finds post-Communist Kiev streaked with the horrible, bitter ironies of a new system in which profits are turned only by black marketeers, contract killers, and ruthless entrepreneurs. A decent living is impossible for intellectual Alexandre Lazarov, who barely scrapes by using his fluency in English and French to translate business reports for fatuous executives. When his wife (Angelika Nevolina) leaves him for a wealthy colleague, the suicidal Lazarov takes out a hit on himself, only to have a change of heart when a chirpy prostitute (Tatiana Krivitska) enters his life. The plot may sound like a familiar contraption, but Krishtofovich is more concerned with revealing the small lunacies of a society that now regards Pampers and Absolut as proud status symbols. Without much dialogue or incident, the film hinges on its grimly sardonic tone and Lazarov's captivating face, which wears the same hangdog expression that makes actors like Stephen Rea or Liev Schreiber so consistently likable. While A Friend of the Deceased stops short of nostalgia for the days of old, it laments a time when human relationships were defined by genuine camaraderie rather than business arrangements. If the price of unification means a little Communist oppression, you sense that Krishtofovich would happily welcome its return.