The Match Factory Girl (15)
Director: Aki Kaurismaki
Starring: Kati Outinen, Elina Salo, Esko Nikkari
Finland, 1989, 1 hour 10 minutes, subtitles
Thursday 10 April 2.00pm
The Courtyard Hereford
The master of understatement and droll, pitch-black humour, Kaurismäki is one of a kind. His world is one of deadpan stoicism and stone-faced comic melancholy, and the way he deals with such themes as our longing for escape and the search for meaning in our mundane lives makes him essential viewing. This, his masterpiece, is the story of Iris, a shy, hard-working girl who is exploited by everyone. Her mother and stepfather are cruel, her boyfriend heartless, but she escapes the drudgery of her life by reading romantic novels and going to dance halls. Finally pushed over the edge, Iris plots revenge on those who have poisoned her dreams.
The Match Factory Girl will be introduced by Graeme Hobbs, whose many reviews and fortnightly podcasts on film can be found at MovieMail.
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