ECLIPSE SERIES 12: AKI KAURISMAKI'S PROLETARIAT TRILOGY

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.