September 10

The Aki Kaurismaki Collection (Vol 1) 

Film Description:

Contains the three films in Kaurismaki's 'workers' trilogy - Shadows in Paradise (1986), Ariel (1988) and The Match Factory Girl (1990). 

With low-key acting, minimal dialogue and humour so deadpan it practically isn't humour at all, Kaurismaki tells simple, devastating stories of loss, love, compassion and the urge to escape. In Shadows in Paradise, garbage man Nikander strikes up a relationship with a cashier in a Helsinki supermarket. This was Kaurismaki's first collaboration with Kati Outinen, an actress whose face is emblematic of his cinema. 

In Ariel, a coal miner whose father has committed suicide heads off in his his white Cadillac through Finland's snowy wastes in a search for work, love and escape. 

The Match Factory Girl tells the excrutiatingly sad story of Iris, a worker on an assembly line, who lives with her dour parents, and has a disastrous social life. Then she gets pregnant by a man who thought she was a prostitute.

Released by Artificial Eye.

The Blossoming Of Maximo Oliveros (2005) - Auraeus Solito

Film Description:

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros is one of those all-too-rare films that handles prepubescent sexual anxiety with intelligence and honesty. 

12-year-old Maxi (Nathan Lopez) lives with his widower father and two older brothers in the slums of Manila. His mother has passed away, leaving the male contingent of the family to turn to petty crime. 

Meanwhile, Maxi takes on the role of surrogate mother, cooking, cleaning and sewing for the family. Things become complicated when Maxi falls in love with Victor, a rookie cop who has an axe to grind with local criminals. 

As events start to spiral out of control, Maxi has to make a choice: either stay loyal to the family he mothers, or to Victor, the object of his affection.

DVD Extras:

Director's commentary; Q&A with Director.

Released by Peccadillo Pictures

Cheers Trev.