MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

framptonhollis Throughout my exploration of brilliant Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki's "Proletariat Trilogy" I have noticed the repetition of several themes and stylistic choices, which include:Dry, deadpan humor.An often melancholic atmosphere.Cinematography that is both colorful and grounded in realityRealistic characters (meaning: characters that are highly flawed, often awkward-the type of people one ignores while taking a daily stroll, played by actors who are not glamorous or ugly).Getting the audience to root for behaviors they otherwise would not be rooting for."The Match Factory Girl", an excellent film that may very well be his masterpiece, embodies all of these little traits, especially the final one. I refuse to spoil the surprises this film keeps in store for its viewers, but I will imply that the heroine definitely engages in some acts that would be villainous in almost any other movie. However, through the lens of Aki Kaurismäki anyone can be likable, and anything can be hilarious. Although it is less predominant that in most of his other works, Aki Kaurismäki's sly sense of dry comedy lurks throughout this tragic drama. There were several instances in which I genuinely (and unexpectedly) burst with juvenile laughter at scenes that would often be considered too sad to be funny. I have compared certain Aki Kaurismäki films to the works of Wes Anderson, but now I must also compare him to the likes of Ingmar Bergman and Todd Solondz. There is no denying that this film is both dark and comic, it is a sad, yet surprisingly entertaining little look at an unfortunate life.

MartinHafer The story is told using very little dialog and has almost zero energy. It concerns a young and not particularly vivacious nor attractive young lady. She works, rents space in her mother's inhospitable house, has no friends and seems to exist instead of live. And, the performance is rather zombie-like. After spending much of the film being mistreated by others, she buys rat poison and gives it to people--several of which actually seem to deserve it (at least to a degree). Then, the police arrest her and the film ends. According to the intro by Turner Classic Movies, Roger Ebert loved this film. It also has a reasonably high overall score of 7.6. I cannot understand either, as the film is about as enjoyable to watch as films showing clips of war atrocities! To say it's unpleasant is a definite understatement but this alone is not a problem--it's also a film that, at least to me, seems pretty pointless. This can also be said of some of director Kaurismaki's other films, such as "Ariel".Strange and certainly not for most tastes.

bandw 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.

AslaugRuotsalainen Where to begin telling about this film? Throwing imaginary roses to Kaurismäki who has yet again showed all what a fantastic creator of films he really is?.No one can as he describe Finnish culture in such a deep and sensitive, yet rough, way. He touches the string of our culture, our way of thinking and behaving in this special "silent" way as only he masters. In his films talking isn't done by words only but surely there's plenty of communication! This film is beyond doubt my personal favorite (also the lastest film by Kaurismäki, Mies Ilman Menneisyyttä, is totally fabulous!!) because there's not much dialogue (which we Finns aren't too keen of somehow) but there's plenty of meaning, plenty of human tragedy (which we also seem to be fond of!) and also a hint from Kaurismäki himself that certain things maybe could be different but all in all everything comes down to the quetion of culture and indeed Finnish culture is different from most other cultures especially in Scandinavia.Finns are often perceived as totally without oral skills almost not being able to talk however this is a fatal mistake to believe in. Finns just don't say anything if it's not necessary!! Why babble with no reason, why chat if it's not necessary..that's also why such a thing as the international wellknown concept of smalltalk is practically unknown here in Finland. It makes most Finns feel uneasy to talk if there's nothing real to talk about. But don't make the conclusion that Finns don't have feelings (even very deep ones!) and thoughts; that would be a fatal mistake. Finns are in everso many ways such a serious people that for most foreigners it looks like there's some sort of national depression going on but on the other hand when Finns party then they really party...Life here in Finland is simple although also hypermodern; it's two "worlds" living side by side and exactly this fact can be difficult for anyone from outside Finland to comprehend because it seems so weird, almost even awkward. What makes a Finn happy...well, a little wooden house by the lake to go to in the summer, your own sauna (which there's plenty of here), a long and everlasting relationship and a cosy home...nothing fancy is high on the list of finnish "dreams of happiness"..maybe it sounded as I would generalize but sometimes it's necessary to make your point of view clear to "foreigners" who've never visited Finland.The film itself shows a lot of how Finland still is...what things are all about; it contains strong emotions although it might not seem so at first. To some the film might even seem boring but beyond all those visible things there's a whole world of unsaid and in this particular film also undone things. In a stange way it contains as well the deepest seriousness as humour even though it is quite invisible to the eye. And however strange it may sound the film contains also love and deep passion; the scene where "Satumaa" is being played (just before Iris is picked up by the police) says it all! That's concequence, justice, love and real passion all in one small scene.Maybe one needs to be a Finn (or a true Fennofile) to get something real out of watching this film but indeed it is worthwhile and if you're gonna buy it do please buy it on DVD because if you like it (and you definately will) a VHS won't last for that many replays...So watch it and get wiser on Finnish culture; I give it all the stars possible, it really is a masterpiece of the very rare. It really is a film with a meaning and it surely has a message to all of us.Yet again "Bravo Kaurismäki" for placing Finland on the filmic worldmap...