Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö (The Match Factory Girl) poster & wallpaper
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Kati Outinen, Elina Salo, Esko Nikkari, Vesa Vierikko, Reijo Taipale ... see more see more... , Silu Seppälä , Outi Mäenpää , Marja Packalén , Klaus Heydemann , Ismo Keinanen , Kurt Siilas , Helga Viljanen , Richard Reitinger

The Match Factory Girl is a Finnish/ Swedish coproduction. Kati Outinen plays the title character, trapped in a deadly dull job and an even deadlier duller home life. Against her family's wishes, she ... read more read more...purchases a bright red dress and heads out for a night on the town. She spends the evening with a handsome wealthy man, who shows how significant this sexual pairing is by leaving her alone the next morning with a large sum of money. Not wishing to tell her parents of her misadventure, Outinen splits the money with her brother, then waits in vain for her "lover" to return. When she finds she is pregnant, she writes a syrupy note to her erstwhile swain, who coldly sends her a money order and instructs her to get an abortion. Even her family turns on her when her condition becomes obvious. With her remaining savings, Outinen purchases a generous supply of rat poison--not for herself, but for all the people who did her dirt throughout the film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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85% liked it

2,044 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 10 min.

Directed by: Aki Kaurismäki

Release Date: January 12, 1990

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DVD Release Date: September 23, 2008

Stats: 109 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (109)

  • SirPant
    December 8, 2009
    SirPant
    Absolutely heartbreaking, The Match Factory Girl is an absolute masterpiece and a fine final instalment in Aki Kaurismäki's outstanding 'Underdog' trilogy. Kati Outinen's performance is wonderful, my only criticism is that it was far too short!
  • gator681
    May 12, 2010
    gator681
    In "The Match Factory Girl," Iris(Kari Outinen) works all day in a factory and comes home at night to tend to her parents(Elina Salo & Esko Nikkari) in a cramped apartment. So, she figures she deserves a little fun in return but nobody takes notice of her at a dance. Her pa... read morerents react in shock when she has the nerve to buy a new dress with her own money and demand she return it. She does not. In fact, Iris wears it to a bar where she winds up meeting the wealthy Aarne(Vesa Vierikko) and they spend the night together.

    "The Match Factory Girl" is proof that Aki Kaurismaki does not make the same movie over and over again, as this is more dead serious than deadpan. There is very little humor and minimal dialogue which makes it perfect for watching on a bus. Even the television news is pessimistic, full of death and destruction(pretty much everything except for the Bay Area Earthquake) with a little resistance thrown in. Even Iris' job at a factory that makes matchsticks which are primarily used in smoking cigarettes has ominous overtones. Iris is too good of a person for such a cruel world, serving others and expecting the best from the world in return, and eventually suffers for it, before the movie takes a huge risk in removing any sympathy from her.
  • jimbotender
    February 25, 2009
    jimbotender
    Kaurismaki's perfection of the 90's.Outinen is a goddess,convincing me that acting is silence,a soundproof collision merged into shattering pieces.Those pieces glued in the trembling-vengeful heart of Iris.Aye,and hard laboring.
  • sleepykiss
    February 16, 2012
    sleepykiss
    Just wonderful. I've not seen the other 2 films of the trilogy (& now I don't know if I should,) but I'll certainly be on the lookout for future Kaurismaki films.

View All Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö (The Match Factory Girl) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Anton Bitel
October 16, 2007
Anton Bitel, Eye for Film

Kati Outinen proves herself the divine muse of minimalism, conveying more emotion with her stony facial expressions than a whole marquee's worth of shrill starlets could manage. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
April 11, 2001
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

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Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

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Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

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Emanuel Levy
July 6, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Marjorie Baumgarten
January 1, 2000
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle

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Jason Anderson
July 8, 2003
Jason Anderson, eye WEEKLY

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