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The Match Factory Girl

Play trailer Poster for The Match Factory Girl Released Nov 6, 1992 1h 10m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Iris (Kati Outinen) has a soul-deadening job as a quality-control worker watching boxes of matches go by on an assembly line all day. At night, she eats silently with her dour mother (Elina Salo) and stepfather (Esko Nikkari). One weekend, wearing her new red dress at a local dance, she ends up going home with Aarne (Vesa Vierikko), whom she mistakenly believes is her new boyfriend. When she discovers that she's pregnant, years of pent-up rage explode in a shocking outburst.

Critics Reviews

View All (5) Critics Reviews
Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Ultimately Iris’s awful plight is treated not so much as pathetic or tragic as hilarious. I won’t reveal how the story ends, but it’s an extreme and “satisfying” melodramatic finale... Rated: 2/4 Jun 2, 2022 Full Review Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle Rated: 4/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Farah Cheded A Good Movie To Watch A bleakly comic masterwork of economic storytelling from Finland’s maestro director Rated: 85/100 Jul 25, 2023 Full Review Kristy Strouse Cinematic Lovelies The Match Factory Girl is a carefully curated picture with a stark and delightfully sharp edge. May 18, 2023 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 5/5 Jul 6, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (94) audience reviews
Audience Member "Match Factory Girl" is certainly a curious feature to behold; the tonal ambiguity that pervades this terse little work may frustrate some viewers while enchanting others. Kaurismaki deftly evokes the sense of an oncoming crossroads to either laughter or tears while slyly declining to clarify which path he has chosen to traverse. As a result, we watch the film's generally tragic events in a dispassionate state, ever suspecting that the film's commentary hints at underpinnings of dark comedy. While negatively portentous events lurk in the background of the film, a certain intentionally overwrought melancholy suffuses the soundtrack to the extent that we cannot grow depressed. As a whole, the film evokes the central quality of blues music, in that its sadness uplifts us through its sober wisdom and inherent empathy for us. Although minimalistic to a challenging point of extreme, "Match Factory Girl" deserves certain acknowledgment as one of Kaurismaki's most haunting and memorable works. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review dave s In Aki Kaurismaki's The Match Factory Girl, Iris is a young woman who spends her days in a factory working as a quality control officer, her evenings being either neglected or verbally abused by her parents, and her nights at the local music club waiting in vain for an offer to dance. The film is a somber and penetrating character study of a woman in the depths of despair. Virtually devoid of dialogue, Kaurismaki relies on bleak images and nicely composed shots to create the atmosphere of pure dread. In a medium so reliant on visuals, Kaurismaki understands the importance of constructing an image to create a mood or atmosphere instead of explaining it through dialogue. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member a bleak, gripping masterpiece Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member The actors deserve tremendous credit for pulling off a feature film where dialogue was on the verge of extinction! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Aki Kaurismaki's film is as quiet as it is disquieting. Told through minimal dialogue, the film relies on Kati Outinen very descriptive performance to enlighten viewers about the title-character's plight, along with cinematic cues that are most effective in how simple they are (rarely do you find fade-outs as ominous as the one in this movie). A powerful film about misogyny and negligence. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Klassinen kostotarina. Kati Outinen näyttelee yksin pääosaa. Dialogi on niukassa, kun lopulta kaltoinkohtelijat saavat rotanmyrkkyä. Jotenki tässäkin ois toivonu, että päähenkilö ois lopussa selvinny ilman rangaistusta. Mutta sehän ei Kaurismäen elokuvissa käy. Hyväkin saa pahan palkkaa. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Match Factory Girl

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Iris (Kati Outinen) has a soul-deadening job as a quality-control worker watching boxes of matches go by on an assembly line all day. At night, she eats silently with her dour mother (Elina Salo) and stepfather (Esko Nikkari). One weekend, wearing her new red dress at a local dance, she ends up going home with Aarne (Vesa Vierikko), whom she mistakenly believes is her new boyfriend. When she discovers that she's pregnant, years of pent-up rage explode in a shocking outburst.
Director
Aki Kaurismäki
Producer
Aki Kaurismäki
Screenwriter
Aki Kaurismäki
Distributor
Kino Pictures
Production Co
Finnkino Oy, Svenska Filminstitutet, Esselte Video, Villealfa Filmproduction Oy
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
Finnish
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 6, 1992, Wide
Release Date (DVD)
Sep 23, 2008
Runtime
1h 10m
Sound Mix
Mono