No one had the slightest suspicion of what beautiful things she had seen
December 21, 2014 12:01 PM   Subscribe

Jean Renoir's "The Little Match Girl" ("La petite marchande d'allumettes") with Catherine Hessling. 1928 (31 Minutes) Silent movie with music and translated intertitles. Original Hans Christian Andersen story included under the video.
posted by The Whelk (16 comments total) 20 users marked this as a favorite
 


The Little Match Girl made me burst into tears the first time it was read to me as a child. I was used to stories that, if sad, at least had an ending where everything turned out alright for the main character. Not so in this case. Not by a long shot. HC Andersen was a Dogma trailblazer.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:53 PM on December 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


Hans Christian Anderson loves killing hisself some female protagonists: c.f. Little Mermaid.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:20 PM on December 21, 2014


My 10 year old daughter said, "I'm reading The Little Match Girl", and I'm like, "Isn't that kinda heavy, I mean..." and she's like, "Yeah..."
posted by mikelieman at 2:41 PM on December 21, 2014




Phew, needs some kinda acronym for heartbreaking.

Lots of that 19thC stuff seemed like this: Grimm's Fairytales, Anderson, etc.

But this one doesn't seem to have any kind of moral (disobeyed parents, consorted with witches, wandered around in forbidden places, coal in stocking because...reasons, etc.).

Just...sad.

Early Seasonal Affective Disorder?
posted by CrowGoat at 3:25 PM on December 21, 2014


Well it's sufficed with Christian (the ..religion, not the author) ideas of Heavenly reward and innocence, with the authors own fixation of painful longings being forever unfulfilled.

It does read a bit "SHE TRIED HARD AND NOW SHE'S DEAD, CAUSE ...THAT'S THE WAY LIFE IIIIS" swoony, but it hits a much gentler and milder tone than say, a Grimm Germanic tale, where instead of " oh she was cold and at least she saw a visison of warmth and abundance before dying and maybe heaven awaits" it would be all SEE THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WASTE MATCHES.
posted by The Whelk at 3:37 PM on December 21, 2014 [7 favorites]


Jean Renoir
posted by Fruny at 4:32 PM on December 21, 2014


It does read a bit "SHE TRIED HARD AND NOW SHE'S DEAD, CAUSE ...THAT'S THE WAY LIFE IIIIS" swoony

This is why I prefer the Discworld version of the story that kmz has already linked to. Because something's inherently wrong about getting all swoony and knotted up over a poor little girl freezing to death alone in the streets.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:47 PM on December 21, 2014


Anyone else out there remember the 1986 film version starring Roger Daltrey and Twiggy? My mom checked out the VHS from the library one summer and they might as well have just given it to us, as often as we rented it after that. I watched the shit out of it for years, but somehow I've never met anyone else who's seen it or even knew it existed. It was fucking fantastic.

(I don't really know if it was actually fantastic -- I mean, it may be? -- but I was 5-8 yrs old at the time, and to this day I lack rigorously impartial judgement about it)
posted by hegemone at 5:08 PM on December 21, 2014


"Sorry, master. But, look, it’s all right, anyway, because she wakes up and it’s all bright and shining and tinkling music and there’s angels, master."

Death stopped.

AH. THEY TURN UP AT THE LAST MINUTE WITH WARM CLOTHES AND A HOT DRINK?

Oh dear, thought Albert. The master’s really in one of his funny moods now.

"Er. No. Not exactly at the last minute, master. Not as such.”

WELL?

"More sort of just after the last minute.” Albert coughed nervously.

YOU MEAN AFTER SHE’S—

"Yes. That’s how the story goes, master, ‘s not my fault."

WHY NOT TURN UP BEFORE? AN ANGEL HAS QUITE A LARGE CARRYING CAPACITY.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:22 PM on December 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


There is an Angela Carter essay about The Scream and Munch's other works that points out how syphilis, smallpox, and other diseases wreaked havoc in his part of the world in the 19th century and how that might have affected his outlook/influenced his subject matter. I have often wondered about Andersen in the same way. Not to mention the lack of light that Northern latitudes suffer from in winter. If I didn't see much sun for several months, and lived in a world with high child mortality, I might write something like The Little Match Girl too.
posted by emjaybee at 8:23 PM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oh, I also meant to link to cartoonist "Trungles" beautiful rendition of this story, Three Matches.
posted by emjaybee at 8:28 PM on December 21, 2014




My favorite Little Match Girl version is the cartoon by Sergio Aragonez, where she realizes she can keep warm by setting the houses on fire...
posted by happyroach at 1:04 AM on December 22, 2014 [4 favorites]


Here's the version that introduced me to this tale. David Lang: The Little Match Girl Passion A brilliant and moving work that is amazing live.
posted by viramamunivar at 10:22 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


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