"Tulitikkuja lainaamassa" (Borrowing matches), for at least most Finns, is more widely known as a book by Maiju Lassila than as a movie. First I must note that Algot Untola, mentioned in the writing credits, indeed is the real name of Lassila. The book is one of the most beloved Finnish classics, although nowadays kids probably don't read it too often. It is a description of peaceful countryside life of the early 20th century, disturbed by a series of funny coincidences and misunderstandings. Although the book is best described as a farce, it still has some documentary value also, making fun of the differences between the slow backward life of the farmers and the "city" lifestyle, where city means a group of houses and a couple of streets. It all starts when farmer Ihalainen must visit his neighbors to borrow some matches...
Having read the book a couple of years ago, I was interested in this movie version, but afraid of whether it could keep the spirit of the book. I could not. I was satisfied though, because although the movie is quite loyal to the plot, it managed to make the necessary adaptation to keep things going. Great part of the humor in the book is based on very slowly evolving scenes, where people just can't get to the point, and that does not look good on the screen, when there is only just about 90 minutes to spare. Therefore I must congratulate the director, although the movie looks quite different from the book.
This is a real feel-good -movie. There are no evil characters, as they are not needed. Ordinary people can mess their lives without the help of any villains. You are not going to die of laughter, but it does not matter. Personally I prefer this to most of the average 21st century comedies, as they are so desperately trying to make you laugh. In the end the feeling is being ashamed, either for the actors or the characters, depending of the quality of the film. But in this case, they had a good script to base the movie on. I wish they made more movies like Full Monty nowadays.
I must, though, admit that the quality of the actors is not all excellent. Some of the performances are quite amateur-like, which is of course typical for a movie of this age. On the other hand, the movie has some of the best Finnish actors of the time. Especially I like Siiri Angerkoski, but all the main characters are played with good spirit, to give them interesting personalities.
