Directed by Aki Kaurismäki • 1990 • Finland, Sweden
Kaurismäki took his penchant for despairing character studies to unspeakably grim depths in the shockingly entertaining The Match Factory Girl. Kati Outinen is memorably impenetrable as Iris, whose grinding days as a cog in a factory wheel, and nights as a neglected daughter living with her parents, ultimately send her over the edge. Yet despite her transgressions, Kaurismäki makes Iris a compelling, even sympathetic figure. Bleak yet suffused with comic irony, The Match Factory Girl closes out the "Proletariat Trilogy" with a bang, and a whimper.
Up Next in Directed by Aki Kaurismäki
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La vie de bohème
Directed by Aki Kaurismäki • 1992 • France
Starring André Wilms, Matti Pellonpää, Karl VäänänenThis deadpan tragicomedy about a group of impoverished, outcast artists living the bohemian life in Paris is among the most beguiling films by Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki. Based on stories from He...
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Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
Directed by Aki Kaurismäki • 1994 • Finland
Living in Mexico with a top-ten hit under their belts, the Leningrad Cowboys have fallen on hard times. When they head north to rejoin their manager (Kaurismäki mainstay Matti Pellonpää) for a gig in Coney Island, he has turned into a self-proclaimed...
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Drifting Clouds
Directed by Aki Kaurismäki • 1996 • Finland
Starring Kati Outinen, Kari Väänänen, Elina SaloThe chilly landscapes of Helsinki are warmed by the gentle humanism and wry humor of Aki Kaurismäki in the first installment of his FINLAND TRILOGY, a deadpan tale of everyday survival in the face of ove...
