Maiju Lassila

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This biographical film celebrates the little-known life of the Finnish novelist and revolutionary Maiju Lassila (Asko Sarkola), born in 1868. Lassila's early years are briefly shown, then the film richly details his active and paradoxically reclusive adult life, beginning with his sojourn in St. Petersburg, working as a businessman. Unable to stay away from politics, he caused the assassination of a high-ranking Czarist and as a result, had to run back to Finland to hide. Once established in the comparative safety of a small village, he taught school in order to support his real vocation as a writer. Always living on the edge of poverty, if not square in the middle of it, Lassila continues to avoid public contact - he keeps his identity low-key and camoflages it by publishing under a variety of pseudonyms.

For the Matches

In Eastern Finland, in Liperi to be exact, Anna-Liisa Ihalainen asks her husband Antti to get some matches from the Ihalainen household. Unfortunately that trip takes a little longer than expected...

Kun lesket lempivät

Simo Kämäräinen, a widowed cottage owner, and his chairman leave with marriage intentions for Juva. A play based on Maiju Lassila's novel.

Nuori mylläri

A young man arrives in the village. He becomes a miller and delights the girls in the village, which evokes bitterness in others. He is subject to moralistic criticism, even though he is in fact only in love with the tailor's daughter.

Tulitikkuja lainaamassa

Set in North Karelia, whne Antti Ihalainen's house runs out of matches, he goes to borrow some from a neighbor. On the road, he meets a rich widower, Jussi Vatanen, who asks Ihalai to be his speaker and friend on an engagement trip to the city of Jo. The hosts from Lieper are snorting drunkenly from behind their shoulders.