Aki Kaurismäki Collection Volume 1 in September
16 September 2007

When we reviewed Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki's latest film Lights in the Dusk we remarked on a rumour that Artificial Eye were going to release his tragically unavailable some of his earlier films in the near future in two three-film collections. To our joy it's turned out to be true, and there is more still in the pipeline.

The Aki Kaurismäki Collection: Volume 1 features the three films that make up the so-called Underdog Trilogy. I always have a little difficulty with the idea of the Kaurismäki trilogies, because both the Underdog Trilogy (also known as the Worker's Trilogy) and the Loser Trilogy (also referred to as the Helsinki Trilogy) are not in any way specific to the three films they represent - losers and underdogs are stock-in-trade components of Kaurismäki's cinema. But who's complaining?

Volume 1 contains the following three films, all on UK DVD for the first time.

Shadows in Paradise (Varjoja paratiisissa, 1986) stars Kaurismäki regulars Matti Pellonpää and Kati Outinen in a typically offbeat and touching comedy. Pellonpää plays Nikander, a rubbish collector and would-be entrepreneur whose plan for success are dashed by the unexpected death of his business associate. During his search for a job he meets down-on-her luc supermarket cashier Ilona (Outinen), and a faltering bond develops between them.

One of the most acclaimed of Kaurismäki's early films, Ariel (1988) follows the exploits of the laconic Taisto, a recently unemployed Lapland miner who sets off in a Cadillac convertible (a car Kaurismäki himself also owns and treasures) 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.

A personal favourite of mine, The Match Factory Girl (Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö, 1990) is a blackly comic minimalist masterpiece starring 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 dance hall, but her attempts are constantly foiled by her selfish parents and the callous behaviour of 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.

The Aki Kaurismäki Collection: Volume 1 will be release on UK DVD by Artificial Eye on 24th September 2007 at the RRP of £29.99. All three films have anamorphic widescreen transfers with Dolby 2.0 sound. Two weeks later the release will be followed by The Aki Kaurismäki Collection: Volume 2.