THE MOVING PICTURE BOY ARCHIVE

LES ALLUMETTES SUÉDOISES

Title: Les Allumettes Suédoises
Literal English translation of title: Swedish Matches
Production type: TV Mini-Series
Year of first transmission: 1996
Director: Jacques Ertaud
Country of Production: France
Principal Boy Actors: Naël Marandin plays the protagonist Olivier Châteauneuf. There are numerous other boys, including Olivier's best friend David played by Sylvain Thoirey.
Genre: Period Drama
Length: 3 episodes of approximately 1½ hours each.
Language: French
Availability: DVD release (there are no English subtitles on the discs, but English subtitles are available from opensubtitles.org)

Synopsis
The story of the tribulations of a Montmartre boy in the 1930s as he is shuttled between various relatives following the death of his mother, and in which his life is shaped by dark family secrets that the surviving members of his family seem intent on keeping from him.

Source material
The miniseries was based on the cycle of books collectively known as Le Roman d'Olivier, by the French poet and writer Robert Sabatier, which drew upon the author's own Montmartre boyhood. The first of the series to be published was Les Allumettes suédoises ('Swedish Matches') in 1969, and this was followed by Trois sucettes à la menthe ('Three Mint Lollipops') in 1972, Les Noisettes sauvages ('Wild Hazelnuts') in 1974 and Les Fillettes chantantes ('The Singing Girls') in 1980.

Sabatier then wrote two prequels to Les Allumettes suédoises: David et Olivier ('David and Olivier') in 1986, and Olivier et ses amis ('Olivier and his Friends') in 1993.

Finally, in the 21st century, two sequels to the original series were published, Olivier 1940 in 2003, and Les Trompettes guerrières ('The Warriors' Trumpets') in 2007.

The TV miniseries adapts the sequence from David et Olivier to Les Noisettes sauvages. A TV tie-in edition of these books (but omitting Olivier et ses amis), under the overall title of Les Allumettes suédoises, was released in two volumes by Albin Michel in 1996, to coincide with the series. (The front cover of volume 1 of the TV tie-in edition is shown on right. Volume 2 is the banner image at the top of this page.)

Only two of the volumes in the Olivier cycle were translated into English: Les Allumettes suédoises was published as The Match Boy in 1974 (front cover below left), and Trois sucettes à la menthe as Three Mint Lollipops in 1975 (front cover below right). Both volumes were published by Paul Elek.

Screenshots

Episode 1, David et Olivier
   

Episode 2, Trois sucettes à la menthe
   

Episode 3, Les Noisettes sauvages