Moviefone App Coming Soon. Sign Up Now to Get Notified!

The Match Factory Girl (1992)

Movie
Audience Score
73
The Match Factory GirlCriterion Channel logoWatch on Criterion Channel
NR 1 hr 9 minNov 4th, 1992DramaKaurismäki's Proletariat Trilogy PosterPart of Kaurismäki's Proletariat Trilogy
Iris is a shy and dowdy young woman stuck in a dead-end job at a match factory, who dreams of finding love at the local dancehall. Finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand and abandoned by the father, Iris finally decides the time has come to get even and she begins to plot her revenge.
StarringKati OutinenElina SaloEsko Nikkari
DirectorAki Kaurismäki
WriterAki Kaurismäki

Movie Details

Movie Budget:$83,038
Original Language:Finnish
Production Companies:Villealfa Filmproductions, Svenska Filminstitutet, Esselte Video, Finnkino
Movie Tags:
murderparent child relationshiplonelinessisolationpoisonfactory workerhelsinki, finlandmatchmonotony

Kaurismäki's Proletariat Trilogy

The poignant, deadpan films of Aki Kaurismäki are pitched somewhere in the wintry nether lands between comedy and tragedy. And rarely in his body of work has the line separating those genres seemed thinner than in what is often identified as his "Proletariat Trilogy," Shadows in Paradise, Ariel, and The Match Factory Girl. In these three films, something like social-realist farces, Kaurismäki surveys the working-class outcasts of his native Finland with detached yet disarming amusement. Featuring commanding, off-key visual compositions and delightfully dour performances, the films in this triptych exemplify the talents of a unique and highly influential film artist.