Summary: This is undoubtedly one of Kaurismäki's best works - I'd even go as far as to say it's his first masterpiece. The film is minimalist (even for Kaurismäki!), with very little dialogue (the first line comes 12 minutes into the film) and a sparse but profoundly compelling plot that unfolds at an impeccable pace. On screen for nearly every minute of the film, Kati Outinen holds the piece together as Iiris, the Match Factory Girl of the title, whose downtrodden, poverty-ridden existence takes a turn for the worse when a man she meets, and sleeps with, makes it very clear to her that she was a one night stand - and she then discovers that she's pregnant. Her response to her situation is as unexpected as it is thrilling. Outinen won the Best Actress award at Cannes in 2002 for her role in Mies vailla menneisyttä (The Man Without a Past), but I think her performance in this film is even better - she's simply mesmerising.
Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö
(1990)
Finland
