Details

Release year: 1990

Storyline

A woman's terribly dull life is upended by a one-night stand pregnancy, causing her to seek retribution.

Top credits

Directors

Aki Kaurismäki

Writers

Aki Kaurismäki

Cast

Kati Outinen — Iris Rukka
Elina Salo — Mother
Esko Nikkari — Stepfather
Vesa Vierikko — Aarne

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Did you know

• The third installment of Aki Kaurismäki's Proletariat Trilogy, after "Varjoja paratiisissa" (Shadows in Paradise (1986)) and Ariel (1988). Over 30 years later, "Kuolleet lehdet" (Fallen Leaves (2023)) became the fourth one in the "trilogy."

• Though not shown on screen, the film Iris sees at the movies is The Marx Brothers's Room Service (1938).

• The film's story is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Little Match Girl, as well as Finnish author Anni Swan's 1916 youth novel "Iris rukka." Iris' name is thus a reference to the novel and a play on words, as the novel's title means "poor Iris."