Hans Christian Andersen for Grown-Ups
April 9–23, 2005

To celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875), the Department of Film and Media presents four programs of film versions of The Little Match Girl, one of the Danish fairy-tale author’s most beloved stories. Andersen continues to inspire generations of artists—children and adults alike—including the filmmakers in this series, whose multifaceted interpretations of the tale date from 1902 to the present. The variety of styles on view illustrates how filmmakers as diverse as Jean Renoir, Aki Kaurismaki, and Andrew Meyer (with the help of Andy Warhol) have interpreted Andersen’s fertile imagination. The need to clothe tales in cultural and time-specific garb, thus claiming the content for a specific era, has only become more irresistible with the proliferation of new media—to wit, the latest film in this series, Resurrection of the Little Match Girl (Korea, 2002), in which Andersen’s match girl is partly (and/or part of) a video game.

Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film and Media. This exhibition is part of a worldwide celebration coordinated, supported, and promoted by the Danish organization HCA 2005. Prints courtesy of the bfi National Film and Television Archive; Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv; Deutsches Filmmuseum; Finnish Film Fund; G.G. Film, Berlin; The Netherlands Filmmuseum; The Norwegian Film Institute; and Tube Entertainment, Korea.

Tulitikkutehtaan tytto (The Match Factory Girl). 1990. Finland. Written and directed by Aki Kaurismaki. With Kati Outinen, Elina Salo, Esko Nikkari. Kaurismaki’s contemporary adaptation imagines Andersen’s match girl as a miserable blue-collar worker who lives at home with her despicable parents and suddenly finds herself pregnant. Faced with mistreatment from all corners, she exacts revenge on the world. On the razor-sharp edge of tragedy and comedy, this tremendously affecting portrait is based on Andersen’s tale but is altogether minimalist, deadpan Kaurismaki. In Finnish, English subtitles. 68 min.
Saturday, April 9, 5:30; Saturday, April 16, 2:00. T2

La Petite Marchande d’allumettes (The Little Match Girl). 1928. France. Directed by Jean Renoir. With Catherine Hessling, Jean Storm. Hessling’s heartfelt performance and Renoir’s elegant direction make this version a satisfying culmination of silent-era literary interpretations. 40 min.

Match Girl. 1966. USA. Directed by Andrew Meyer. With Vivian Kurz, Gerard Malanga, Andy Warhol. This complex visualization of the fantasies of an aspiring actress, set to the music of the Rolling Stones and Martha and the Vandellas, casts Warhol as the narrator and his portrait of Marilyn Monroe as the benign spirit (in Andersen’s tale, the kindly Grandmother). 25 min.
Saturday, April 9, 8:00; Saturday, April 16, 4:00. T2

The Little Match Girl in Shorts Spanning a Century:
The Little Match Seller. 1902. Britain. Directed by James Williamson. This earliest known version—an impressive adaptation—is by a pioneer of film narrative. Silent. Approx. 9 min.

The Little Match-Seller’s Christmas. c. 1915. Great Britain(?). Director unknown. An earnest visualization stressing the social aspects of the story. Colorized scenes evoke nighttime or dreams. Silent. 5 min.

Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelholzern (The Little Match Girl). 1928/29. Germany(?). Director unknown. An imaginative interpretation in which superimposition, animation, slow motion, and color connote mood. 5 min.

Matchi uri no shojo (The Little Match Girl). 1947. Japan. Directed by Arai Kazugoro. A melancholy retelling in stunning silhouette animation. 10 min.

Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelholzern (The Little Match Girl). 1953. Germany. Directed by Fritz Genschow. An ambitious live-action interpretation with delightful set-pieces, music, ballet, and dance. In German. 36 min.

Nyttårsnatt (New Year’s Eve). 1993. Norway. Directed by Per Blom. Used and abused, the modern match girl is left with just her drug-induced hallucinations. In Norwegian, English subtitles. 20 min. Program approx. 85 min.
Sunday, April 10, 2:00; Monday, April 11, 6:00. T2

Sungnyangpali sonyeoui jaerim (Resurrection of the Little Match Girl). 2002. Korea. Written and directed by Sun-Woo Jang. With Eun-kyeong Lim, Hyun-sung Kim, Ta kang. This sci-fi adaptation is a total—punk?—reconfiguration of the Andersen tale. Its jaw-dropping style, special effects, and relentless razzle-dazzle is ultraviolent cinema-as-video game. The movie takes off in all directions when Ju, a delivery boy at a Chinese restaurant, participates in a massive multiplayer video game called “Resurrection of the Little Match Girl.” In Korean, English subtitles. 123 min.
Sunday, April 10, 5:00; Saturday, April 23, 2:00. T2

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