THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL Movie Review

Tulitkkutehtaan Tytto

Iris (the wonderfully deadpan Kati Outinen) is a plain, shy outsider who shares a drab dwelling with her one-dimensional mother and stepfather, works in a match factory, and hopes desperately for romantic love. Her world is transformed when the extraordinary occurs—she spots a brightly colored party dress in a shop window, buys it, wears it to a bar, and meets the creep who will soon get her pregnant and dump her. When she seeks revenge, Iris is ironically transformed into the most passionate of human beings. Finland's Aki Kaurismäki—who produced, wrote, directed, and edited The Match Factory Girl—has created a perfectly bleak, horrifyingly funny fable about love, loneliness, and betrayal; this surprisingly touching modern horror story is a sick but perfectly polished little jewel, and may well be the director's masterpiece. Truly, truly scary.

NEXT STOP … Ariel, I Hired a Contract Killer, La Vie de Bohème

1990 70m/C SW Fl Kati Outinen, Elina Salo, Esko Nikkari, Vesa Vierikko; D: Aki Kaurismaki; W: Aki Kaurismaki. VHS KIV, BTV, FCT