Aki Kaurismäki Collection: Volume 1 (3-disc) (ej svensk text)

Cult Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki is internationally renowned for his distinctively spare and deadpan character studies of society’s also-rans. This three disc set contains his acclaimed “Underdog Trilogy”, which finds Kaurismäki at the height of his sardonic humanist powers. SHADOWS IN PARADISE: Kaurismäki regulars Matti Pellonpää and Katia Outinen star in this offbeat yet remarkably touching romantic comedy. Pellonpää plays Nikander, a rubbish collector and would-be entrepreneur who finds his plans for success dashed when his business associate commits suicide. Whilst searching for a job, he meets Ilona (Outinen) a down-on-her luck cashier in a local supermarket and, falteringly, a bond begins to develop between them. Finland 1986, 71 minutes ARIEL: Acclaimed as one of Kaurismäki's most accomplished early films, ‘Ariel’ follows the exploits of the laconic Taisto, a newly-unemployed Lapland miner who sets off in a Cadillac convertible for a fresh start in Helsinki. Joined in his odyssey by meter maid Irmeli and her young son, Taitso’s plans take a series of unexpected turns in this dryly comic and satirical melange of road movie and film noir. Finland 1988, 69 minutes THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL: This blackly comic minimalist masterpiece stars Kati Outinen as Iiris, a shy and dowdy young woman stuck in a dead-end job on a match factory production line. She dreams of finding love at the local dancehall, but finds her attempts constantly foiled by her selfish parents and the callous behaviour of her would-be suitors. Finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand and abandoned by the father, Iiris finally decides the time has come to get even and she begins to plot her revenge. Finland 1990, 66 minutes