Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki is famous for his dour, minimalist black comedies. 1990's Match Factory Girl is bleak even by his standards though. Titular character Iris is an utterly miserable woman with no human connections. Although she works in a large factory there are no other workers stationed anywhere near her and her attempt to make conversation with another employee in a common area causes her peer to walk away without saying a word.
Things are even less happy at home. Iris lives with her mother and stepfather but they make her pay rent and prepare meals for them. Rather than talk to one another they watch television which tends to be on news programs that cover topics such as the Tianamen Square Massacre.
To get away from her unpleasant home environment Iris goes to an old fashioned dance hall where every girl quickly finds a dance partner - every girl except Iris, that is, who sits alone on a bench for what would appear to be hours. On another occasion she splurges on a new dress, prompting her stepfather to utter his only word of dialogue in the entire film: "Whore." Apparently he isn't the only one who feels that way about her as the man she finally finds at the dance hall leaves some money on her dresser the next morning.
Things actually get more bleak from there. In one hilariously sad scene Iris is shown crying hysterically while watching a Marx Brothers film. Eventually she tires of her wretched existence and decides to take revenge on those who have wronged her. She murders several people in the same detached way she works at her match factory or prepares dinner, though: even this brings her no satisfaction.
Kaurismaki's sees the world as a hopeless place and he makes films so we can see it that way too. Even with the deadpan humor, The Match Factory Girl is a bitter pill to swallow.
Things are even less happy at home. Iris lives with her mother and stepfather but they make her pay rent and prepare meals for them. Rather than talk to one another they watch television which tends to be on news programs that cover topics such as the Tianamen Square Massacre.
To get away from her unpleasant home environment Iris goes to an old fashioned dance hall where every girl quickly finds a dance partner - every girl except Iris, that is, who sits alone on a bench for what would appear to be hours. On another occasion she splurges on a new dress, prompting her stepfather to utter his only word of dialogue in the entire film: "Whore." Apparently he isn't the only one who feels that way about her as the man she finally finds at the dance hall leaves some money on her dresser the next morning.
Things actually get more bleak from there. In one hilariously sad scene Iris is shown crying hysterically while watching a Marx Brothers film. Eventually she tires of her wretched existence and decides to take revenge on those who have wronged her. She murders several people in the same detached way she works at her match factory or prepares dinner, though: even this brings her no satisfaction.
Kaurismaki's sees the world as a hopeless place and he makes films so we can see it that way too. Even with the deadpan humor, The Match Factory Girl is a bitter pill to swallow.