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Aki Kaurismaki's Proletariat Trilogy (Criterion Collection Eclipse Series 12)
2008
Aki Kaurismaki communes with Finland's working class in his Proletariat Trilogy, a collection of three muted, tragicomic portraits of characters drowning in mundane lives. SHADOWS IN PARADISE (1986) follows a garbage collector set adrift by the death of a co-worker and then pinned to the earth by the love of a supermarket cashier. ARIEL (1988) concerns a coal miner who turns to crime to escape his static existence. The trilogy closes with THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL (1990), a stark, dour, and irony-rich story about a blue collar girl struggling with indifferent parents. See individual titles for additional details. talents of a unique and highly influential film artist.Includes: Shadows in Paradise(1986)Lonely garbageman Nikkander (Matti Pellonpaa) finds himself directionless after losing his friend and co-worker to a sudden heart attack; unlikely redemption comes in the form of plain supermarket cashier Ilona (Kati Outinen, in her first of many performances for Kaurismaki), with whom he begins a tentative love affair. Boiling down what is essentially a romantic comedy to a series of spare and beautiful gestures, Kaurismaki conjures an unexpected delight that finds hope blossoming even amid gray surroundings. Ariel (1988)In Kaurismaki's drolly existential crime drama, a coal miner named Taisto (Turo Pajala) attempts to leave behind a provincial life of inertia and economic despair, only to get into ever deeper trouble. Yet a minor-key romance with a hilariously dispassionate meter maid (Susanna Haavisto) might provide a light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Ariel, which boasts a terrific soundtrack of Finnish tango and Baltic pop music and lovely cinematography by Kaurismaki's longtime cameraman Timo Salmimen, put its director on the international map.The Match Factory Girl (1990)Kaurismaki took his penchant for despairing character studies to unspeakably grim depths in the shockingly entertaining The Match Factory Girl. Kati Outinen is memorably impenetrable as Iris, whose grinding days as a cog in a factory wheel, and nights as a neglected daughter living with her parents, ultimately send her over the edge. Yet despite her transgressions, Kaurismaki makes Iris a compelling, even sympathetic figure. Bleak yet suffused with comic irony, The Match Factory Girl closes out the Proletariat Trilogy with a bang--and a whimper.Source: Image Entertainment Inc.
| DVD Information |
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| Title: |
Aki Kaurismaki's Proletariat Trilogy (Criterion Collection Eclipse Series 12) |
| Actor/Actress: |
Matti Pellonpää;
Kati Outinen;
Matti Pellonpää |
| Director: |
Aki Kaurismäki |
| Language: |
Finnish |
| Year: |
2008 |
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| Color/Black & White: |
Black & White |
| Duration: |
3 hours, 35 minutes |
| Studio: |
Image Entertainment |
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| Ratings
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| MPPA Rating: |
NR |
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| DVD Special Features |
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| DVD Features: |
| Keep Case |
| 3-Disc Boxed Set |
| Widescreen 1.85 |
| Audio: |
| Dolby Digital 1.0 - Finnish |
| Subtitles - English |
| Features: |
| 1. SHADOWS IN PARADISE(1986) |
| 2. ARIEL (1988) |
| 3. THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL (1990) |
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| Catalog Numbers
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| DVD: |
HVD002052 |
| UPC: |
715515032025 |
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