The Little Match Girl (Short 1928)

The Little Match Girl (Short 1928). 40m

“This short early silent from the French master Renoir shows a good deal of imagination on the directoru0026#39;s part – although not in terms of casting: he once more looked no further than his then wife Catherine Hessling whom he was trying to build into a star for the lead role. Hessling is too old for the part, but at times she does manage to convey a degree of innocence required for the role, even if it does mean her performance borders on the (deliberately) comical at times. This being an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersonu0026#39;s tragic short story, these brief light-hearted moments are at odds with the general theme.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe second part of the film veers off into fantasy as weu0026#39;re treated to the girlu0026#39;s childlike fantasies as she slowly freezes to death. Again, thereu0026#39;s a good deal of imagination gone into this sequence, but it does become a little repetitive after a while. The spectre of Death, initially in the form of a Jack-in-the-Box, looms over the fantasies, however, until the film climaxes with a concisely edited chase sequence on horseback.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is a curious choice of story for Renoir, and it obviously doesnu0026#39;t reach the standard of his later output. However, it possesses a Gallic charm that sets it apart from most films of the era, and is worth catching simply to see a master of cinema near the beginning of his cinematic career.”