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The Match Factory Girl

Original title: Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö
  • 1990
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 9m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
13K
YOUR RATING
The Match Factory Girl (1990)
Dark ComedyComedyCrimeDrama

A woman's terribly dull life is upended by a one-night stand pregnancy, causing her to seek retribution.A woman's terribly dull life is upended by a one-night stand pregnancy, causing her to seek retribution.A woman's terribly dull life is upended by a one-night stand pregnancy, causing her to seek retribution.

  • Director
    • Aki Kaurismäki
  • Writer
    • Aki Kaurismäki
  • Stars
    • Kati Outinen
    • Elina Salo
    • Esko Nikkari
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    13K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Aki Kaurismäki
    • Writer
      • Aki Kaurismäki
    • Stars
      • Kati Outinen
      • Elina Salo
      • Esko Nikkari
    • 39User reviews
    • 49Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 6 wins & 5 nominations total

    Photos51

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    Top cast19

    Edit
    Kati Outinen
    Kati Outinen
    • Iris Rukka
    Elina Salo
    Elina Salo
    • Mother
    Esko Nikkari
    Esko Nikkari
    • Stepfather
    Vesa Vierikko
    Vesa Vierikko
    • Aarne
    Reijo Taipale
    • Singer
    Silu Seppälä
    Silu Seppälä
    • Iris Rukka's Brother
    Outi Mäenpää
    Outi Mäenpää
    • Iris Rukka's Co-worker
    Marja Packalén
    • Doctor
    Richard Reitinger
    • Man in the Bar
    Helka Viljanen
    • Office Employee
    • (as Helga Viljanen)
    Kurt Siilas
    • Policeman
    Ismo Keinänen
    • Policeman
    Klaus Heydemann
    Klaus Heydemann
    • Worker
    Erkki Friman
    • Member of Dance Band
    Tapani Ikonen
    • Member of Dance Band
    Jari Lappalainen
    • Member of Dance Band
    Lasse Luoto
    • Member of Dance Band
    Unknown Tank Man
    Unknown Tank Man
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Aki Kaurismäki
    • Writer
      • Aki Kaurismäki
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews39

    7.512.9K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    chaos-rampant

    A simple, unhurried, beautiful, minimalist modern fable

    With THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL Kaurismaki might not tread new ground but instead perfects the stylistic hallmarks that marked him apart from most other directors of his generation. His work is that of a sculptor, hacking away at all the cinematic fat, shaping form by removing that which is not necessary. His movies as an extension of his sculptory approach attain an almost hypnotic quality - or perhaps boring uneventfulness for others. He's not at all trying to hit emotionally draining highs and lows but build a rhythmic lull, a soothing pace created of flows and ebbs that move with imperceptible change. As a result, his movies never hurry to get anywhere fast and when they get there not a whole lot happens. It's all about appreciating how they got there and the stylistic subtleties of that journey.

    THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL finds Kaurismaki shunning dialogue even more than previous efforts, if that's even possible without making a modern silent picture. Which it pretty much is. The entirety of the dialogue doesn't amount to more than 1 minute and that too is used more as a form of punctuation to the images - he could easily have done the movie completely without dialogues if he so wanted. The story could have been summed up in a 20 minute short yet Kaurismaki stretches it to 65 minutes, a meagre duration by most people's standards, which here feels like a good 90 minutes.

    Although the material is perhaps the most bleak and brooding he had done at that point in his career since his debut CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, it is spiced up by moments of his trademark glacial humour. A certain scene in bar involving a drunk, sleazy patron and rat poison had me laughing out loud, which is a minor success for a film of this kind. The most dramatic scenes are delivered with that same kind of deadpan unaffection that immediately acquires a serio-comic air for that reason.

    Although it lacks the playfulness of its predecessor (ARIEL), this is still Kaurismaki in top visual form. He has a way with images and how he orchestrates them that is quite unparalleled at his level. Sure he's not a director of epic works and spectacle but he's carved a niche for himself over the years that has his name and particular sensibilities written all over it and he's been content to work within it. If you like his style, this is a safebet. If you're a newcomer I'd suggest starting with something like ARIEL.
    GregSinora

    Kaurismaki on form

    Yesterday I watched this film straight after Kaurismaki's film of the same year 'I Hired a Contract Killer', and this struck me as a far superior film, possibly because I'd prefer to see drab Finnish locations than (the usual) drab British locations and maybe also because of the annoying poor acting from Jean-Pierre Leaud's female co-star (my Finnish friend asked me why the women sounded like a 'learn the English language' tape). Overall the film seemed to be a generally better piece of cinema than 'Contract Killer'.'The Match Factory Girl' is a continuation of Kaurismaki's trade-mark minimal style (and also content)in which a young (match-factory working) girl leads a depressingly sad life in which she is used and abused by everyone around. Kaurismaki's films (to me at least) can be described as deadpan Bergman in silence, and yesterday i heard that Aki grew up with autism, this is partly the reason of the lack of communication between characters and also the low amount of dialogue. The film is not as depressing as sounds though, and is lifted by Kaurismaki's use of deadpan humour. For any Kaurismaki (add to this Jarmusch and Kitano)fan, this film will not disappoint, although it is pretty difficult to track down.
    10Lexo-2

    A brilliant deadpan tragedy

    A riveting early masterpiece by Aki Kaurismaki. Kati Outinen is extraordinary as Iris, the long-faced factory worker of the title, who lives with her truly appalling parents in (probably) Helsinki. She cooks the meals and does all the housework, while they completely ignore her, preferring to watch TV and drink. Iris buys a dress and goes to a party - everybody ignores her there as well, and her scandalised mother forces her to take the dress back to the shop. A middle-class man picks her up in a bar and sleeps with her, and then leaves the next morning. She informs him that she's pregnant; he sends her a cheque and a note saying "Get rid of it." She quietly and inexorably starts to revenge herself on the world.

    There's not much dialogue, but you don't need it; the camera stays on Outinen's mesmerisingly gloomy face. Iris is possibly the least glamorous heroine in movie history, but without apparently doing anything, Outinen shows all of Iris' hope, despair and the consciousness that it's going to get worse before it gets better. A great movie; since Fassbinder's death, they don't make many like these anymore.
    7bandw

    A simple story that kept me watching

    This is a downbeat story of a young woman, Iris, who works on an assembly line in a match stick factory in Finland. Iris' life would give testament to the truth of Thoreau's quote, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." She comes home from her tedious job to a dismal apartment that she shares with her mother and stepfather--both major losers. They take what little money Iris earns and berate her if she spends on herself.

    While Iris is not unattractive, she presents such a sullen and drab appearance that she is ignored at community dances, until she buys a new red dress when she finally attracts the attention of a man. But don't plan on a happy ending to that one. Years of suppressed resentment can provoke dramatic acts of revenge.

    At a little over an hour this movie could have played as an episode on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." Except it has better production values and acting that most shows on that program. I thought the humorous twist in the final scene was particularly in the style of Hitchcock.

    I enjoyed the establishing shots in the match factory. I have never given much thought about the process of creating match sticks and found the presentation of that interesting. So much complexity and machinery involved in producing such a simple product.
    9trilobee

    Life will never seem as bad again

    Kaurismaki is nothing if not an efficient director. The stylistic elements of 'The Match Factory Girl' are distilled, like the vodka that is drunk throughout, to produce an intense and disturbing effect. Much of the action goes on outside the characteristically static camera frame, and Kati Outinen's deadpan face conveys a correspondingly broad range of expressions (she is excellent at signalling imminent vomiting without appearing to twitch a muscle). It's a film that moves on and out with the minimum of movement and dialogue, and its downwards pull is mesmerising. It's also bitterly funny. Late in the film the main character, Iris, approaches the shop counter and asks for a bottle of rat poison, to which the reply is: 'Small or large?'

    I was fairly low when I saw this film. I came out feeling marvellous. Another triumph for the relief to be found in misery, a paradox which Kaurismaki cheerfully exploits in his dark, tragic & hilarious films.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The third installment of Aki Kaurismäki's Proletariat Trilogy, after "Varjoja paratiisissa" (Shadows in Paradise (1986)) and Ariel (1988). Over 30 years later, "Kuolleet lehdet" (Fallen Leaves (2023)) became the fourth one in the "trilogy."
    • Quotes

      Iiris: [Iris is buying rat-poison] How does it effect?

      Pharmacist: It kills.

      Iiris: Good.

    • Connections
      Featured in Century of Cinema: Scandinavie, Stig Björkman (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Satumaa
      Lyrics and Music Composed Unto Mononen

      Performed by Reijo Taipale

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    FAQ18

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 6, 1992 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Finland
      • Sweden
    • Language
      • Finnish
    • Also known as
      • Devojka iz fabrike šibica
    • Filming locations
      • Helsinki, Finland
    • Production companies
      • Villealfa Filmproductions
      • Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)
      • Esselte Video
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $701
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 9 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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