Borrowing Matchsticks (1980)

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.

Directors:

Leonid Gaidai, Risto Orko

Writers:

Vladlen Bakhnov, Leonid Gaidai

Stars:

Evgeniy Leonov, Vyacheslav Nevinnyy, Rita Polster

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Evgeniy Leonov	...	Antti Ihalainen
Vyacheslav Nevinnyy	...	Jussi Vatanen
Rita Polster	...	Anna-Liisa Ihalainen
Ritva Valkama	...	Miina Sormunen
Georgiy Vitsin	...	Tahvo Kenonen, tailor
Galina Polskikh	...	Kaisa Karhutar
Kauko Helovirta	...	Constable Torvelainen
Leo Lastumäki	...	Mulon Partanen
Pekka Autiovuori	...	Turtiainen
Olavi Ahonen	...	Ville Huttunen
Sergey Filippov	...	Hyvärinen
Nina Grebeshkova	...	Hyvärinen's wife
Mikhail Pugovkin	...	Police chief
Vera Ivleva	...	Anna-Kaisa Hyvärinen
Martti Pennanen	...	Blacksmith (as M. Pennanen)

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

remake | based on novel | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | History

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union Finland

Language:

Finnish Russian

Release Date:

18 January 1980 (Finland)

Also Known As:

For the Matches

Box Office

Budget:

FIM 2,987,770 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm, Suomi-Filmi

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last film directed by Risto Orko who hadn't directed a feature film since 1943.

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Connections

Version of Tulitikkuja lainaamassa (1938)

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Soundtracks

Kak khorosho podnyatsya v oblaka
Written by Aleksandr Zatsepin and Leonid Derbenyov
Performed by Iosif Kobzon

User Reviews

The adventures of two men in Eastern Finland

We are in Eastern Finland, in Liperi to be exact.Anna-Liisa Ihalainen asks her husband Antti to get some matches from the Ihalainen household.That trip takes a little longer than expected.Antti happens to run into his buddy, Jussi Vatanen, the widower with 15 cows.Antti goes to Hyvärinen household, but forgets to ask for those matches.Instead he asks their daughter, Anna-Kaisa, to be the wife for Jussi.Everything changes into more complicated when they meet Kaisa Karhutar in Joensuu.They also spend some time in the prison.And the people back home think they're dead, lying at the bottom of the lake.That's because Ville Huttunen heard them going to America but thinks they drowned with the steamship.But they're alive and well heading towards other adventures.Tulitikkuja lainaamassa (Russian name Za spichkami) from 1980 is a Finnish/Soviet collaboration.Leonid Gaidai is the Soviet director and Risto Orko the Finnish.With this movie Orko (1899-1901) returned to directing after 36 years of absence.This was also his last movie.Aleksandr Zatsepin is behind the great music.The movie is based on the novel by Algot Untola, written under the name Maiju Lassila.I read it last winter and enjoyed it very much.This is the second movie made about the book.The first one came in 1938.I can't recall seeing that one yet, but this is a very good version.I found the film as a VHS from the library.Evgeni Leonov is brilliant as Antti Ihalainen (dubbed by Martti Tschokkinen).Vyacheslav Nevinnyy as his buddy Jussi Vatanen is excellent.The dubbing for him was done by Aarno Sulkanen.Rita Polster is wonderful as Anna-Liisa Ihalainen.Ritva Valkama is great as Miina Sormunen.Galina Polskih is brilliant as Kaisa Karhutar (dubbed by Maija-Leena Soinne).Leo Lastumäki is hilarious as Mulon Partanen.Georgiy Vitsin does great job as the tailor Tahvo Kenonen.He was dubbed by Keikki Kinnunen.Kauko Helovirta is terrific as Constable Torvelainen.And so is Pekka Autiovuori as Turtiainen.Olavi Ahonen as the gossiping Ville Huttunen is most hilarious.Sergei Filippov plays Hyvärinen (dubbed by Severi Seppänen).Nina Grebeshkova (director Gaidai's wife) plays Mrs.Hyvärinen.She was dubbed by Eine Viljanen.Vera Ivleva is their daughter Anna-Kaisa (dubbed by Aune Kämäräinen).Martti Pennanen plays the blacksmith.Seela Sella is washerwoman.There's a lot of hilarious stuff in this movie.One is when those two get drunk and ride through the town and make a lot of damage.It's been done by the traditions of a silent movie, with everything moving in a fast speed.It's very funny when those men go wooing Kaisa Karhutar, whose husband, Makkonen has died some time ago.First Ihalainen and Vatanen find her house with the help of the pig they're trying to catch.Karhutar is the woman Vatanen has noticed earlier in his life.Then, when they leave to try to catch the horse, Partanen comes in to make her his wife.There would be a lot of work in his household.In the end Ihalainen is in the sauna with his beautiful wife.Sauna makes it all better.