The Match Factory Girl
Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö (Flickan från tändsticksfabriken)
La fille aux allumettes (French title)
Das Mädchen aus der Streichholzfabrik (German title)

Available on DVD

Finland 1989 colour 68 min Villealfa Filmproductions Oy, Svenska Filminstitutet

****

Drama, comedy

cast: Kati Outinen (Iiris Rukka), Elina Salo (mother), Esko Nikkari (step-father), Vesa Vierikko (Aarne), Silu Seppälä (brother), Reijo Taipale, Outi Mäenpää, Marja Packalén
credits: dir. Aki Kaurismäki (also script and edit.), prod. Aki Kaurimäki with Klas Olofsson and Katinka Faragó, music Mauri Sumén, DOP Timo Salminen

Poor Iiris tries to find happiness. We see her sitting in the corners of different dancing places and working at the match factory. She lives with her mother and stepfather and she has even to pay for this poor little place. But then one day everything seems to become little lighter...

The first half of the film goes almost without any words (in fact the characters speak only about ten words during that time) and the whole film's dialoque is hilariously small. Kati Outinen is perfect as Iiris. She's looks so sad and little that no one could replace her in that role.

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