Aki Kaurismaki Collection Vol.1 on DVD

A customer from Buckfastleigh , 30/10/2008

Lonely bin man meets disaffected supermarket assistant.

Takes her on first date to bingo. Bad move. 'I don't think it will work out' she says. 'What won't?' he says. 'Anything'.

Anything doesn't work out often. Or only dismally. And mostly not in the way you expected or hoped. Not in Kaurismaki's world.

She gets sacked. 'Why? '

'Just because'. Right. 'Oh s--t'.

She nicks the cash box. 'Now what?'

'I don't know'.

And so it goes on. An anti-romantic loser-love affair.

That's what you get in Kaurismaki films. The same no-hope hoping. The same lost souls losing, then finding, then losing one another. Then - against all hope, and odds, and logic - they find one another again.

Just because. Cus you may as well do something. Despite everything. To fail better (to pinch from Beckett) Or maybe it's just to fail different - go elsewhere, and fail there. May as well. So - in the end - they off it on the ferry out of Finland.

Escape the down-at-heel, deadpan, dour, non-smiling Finns.

(that they inescapably are)

Kaurismaki would rather his characters were smoking than talking; drinking rather than thinking. Smiling is not to be allowed; laughing out loud is too noisy. You can grin, silently, occasionally - through taciturnly tightly shut lips.

At how addictively painful life is always going to be.

And how absurd the addiction (and the pain)

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A customer from Newcastle upon Tyne , 16/05/2008

This film is typical Kaurismaki with its monotonous scenes of working environment, almost non-existent dialogue and retro cars. It is a sad story of Iris, a young working-class woman, who is ill-treated by her parents, friends and men in general. It shows the darker side of life, when a woman loses her innocence and turns against her oppressors. However, I still recommend it as another one of Kaurismaki's classic masterpieces. Furthermore, it should be noted that particularly Finnish men can really be that quiet in real life.

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A customer from London , 24/07/2008

This isn't a review as such - I'm a big fan of Kaurismäki. I came late as my first encounter was 'The Man Without A Past' which is just brilliant and, having seen it many times at the cinema as an usher, I now own a copy for safe keeping. Having watched his earlier films in collection Vol.1, it seems that he's almost revisiting the same theme but with a slight twist each time, a slightly different story, but no less enjoyable - in fact it just gets better. You feel like you're looking at the same painting but a few years have passed and your take on it has skewed but the meaning is richer for it. In fact the lighting and colour are always gorgeous and give the films a painterly feel. Fans of Roy Andersson ('Songs From the Second Floor', 'You, The Living') will like this. His characters often seem to be involved in mundane jobs, such as bin men, charity workers, demolition and in this case factory workers, but they have a stoic heroism and resolve which draws you in and makes you wonder if, from your comfy sofa, you could find the same qualities given the circumstances.

Highly recommended.

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A customer from UK , 25/07/2008

Despite having bleak overtones, some of the Kaurismaki films are in fact quite uplifting. Strangers seem to help each out in adversity and work through their problems.

The Match Factory Girl is a lot bleaker-the girl's response to the rotten people around her is somewhat more negative. There also seemed to be fewer Kaurismaki signature scenes to soften the edges. A refreshing change, although the character perhaps did not elicit much sympathy (more pity).

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A customer from London , 24/07/2008

This isn't a review as such - I'm a big fan of Kaurismäki. I came late as my first encounter was 'The Man Without A Past' which is just brilliant and, having seen it many times at the cinema as an usher, I now own a copy for safe keeping. Having watched his earlier films in collection Vol.1, it seems that he's almost revisiting the same theme but with a slight twist each time, a slightly different story, but no less enjoyable - in fact it just gets better. You feel like you're looking at the same painting but a few years have passed and your take on it has skewed but the meaning is richer for it. In fact the lighting and colour are always gorgeous and give the films a painterly feel. Fans of Roy Andersson ('Songs From the Second Floor', 'You, The Living') will like this. His characters often seem to be involved in mundane jobs, such as bin men, charity workers, demolition and in this case factory workers, but they have a stoic heroism and resolve which draws you in and makes you wonder if, from your comfy sofa, you could find the same qualities given the circumstances.

Highly recommended.

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A customer from Newcastle upon Tyne , 16/05/2008

This film is typical Kaurismaki with its monotonous scenes of working environment, almost non-existent dialogue and retro cars. It is a sad story of Iris, a young working-class woman, who is ill-treated by her parents, friends and men in general. It shows the darker side of life, when a woman loses her innocence and turns against her oppressors. However, I still recommend it as another one of Kaurismaki's classic masterpieces. Furthermore, it should be noted that particularly Finnish men can really be that quiet in real life.

Read all highest rated reviews