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The Aki Kaurismäki Collection, Vol. 3 in October

15 October 2007

It's been a delicious few weeks for us Aki Kaurismäki fans, thanks to UK distributor Artificial Eye, who have released his latest, Lights in the Dusk and two volumes of his earlier work, The Aki Kaurismäki Collection, Vol. 1, The Aki Kaurismäki Collection, Vol. 2. Now we're just a week away from the third volume in the series, The Aki Kaurismäki Collection, Vol 3, also from Artificial Eye, this time featuring four of his earliest features.

Crime and Punishment (1983)
Kaurismäki's first feature follows the descent into crime of Rahikainen, a slaughterhouse worker and former law student, who murders a businessman and then begins a game of cat and mouse with the police. Effectively updating Dostoevsky s great novel to 1980s Helsinki, this remarkably assured debut offers a sharp critique of Finnish society.

Calamari Union (1985)
A group of men, all bar one called Frank, abandon their downtrodden neighbourhood in search of Eira a near mythical district across town that promises a better life. Kaurismäki's second features details their misadventures along the way with deadpan humour and rock and roll attitude.

Hamlet Goes Business (1987)
In this wicked and hilarious satire of the corporate world, Kaurismäki liberally updates Shakespeare's tragedy as a hard-boiled noir B-movie. Finnish comic Pirkka-Pekka Petelius plays an irresponsible playboy who finds himself involved in a vicious boardroom power struggle with his uncle, who plans to sell off his company s assets in order to corner the market on Swedish rubber ducks.

La Vie de Bohème (1992)
Freely adapted from Henri Murger s 1851 novel, this is Kaurismäki's highly individual take on the story of three bohemian artists a poet, a painter and a composer set in a timeless Paris. Shifting between heartbreaking drama and black humour, the fine cast features cameos from Jean-Pierre Léaud, Sam Fuller and Louis Malle.

The Aki Kaurismäki Collection, Vol. 3 will be released in the UK by Artificial Eye on 22nd October 2007 at the RRP of £29.99. Unlike the previous two volumes, there's actually a spcial feature included in this set, Jonathan Ross Presents For One Week Only - an interview with Kaurismäki by Jonathan Ross. All films are in anamorphic widescreen except Crime and Punishment, which is 4:3.