THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL

To say that nobody makes movies like so-and-so tells us nothing about the kind of film we are watching yet one has only to say the name Aki Kaurismaki and you know that no-one else makes movies quite like him and you know exactly what you are going to get. Kaurismaki's movies are mostly short, funny in a black, very sad sort of way and to say they are minimalist is ... well, something of an understatement to say the least. He is one of the great directors, though the very simplicity of his work might make people think otherwise.

"The Match Factory Girl" is one of his very best films. Dialogue is kept to a minimum, (before any of the characters actually speak we hear a news report and a song). Indeed, there are times when you feel this could just as easily have worked as a silent film as Kaurismaki clearly knows that you don't need words to convey what is happening or to explain the emotions that are on display.

The Match Factory girl of the title is Iris, (a superb Kati Outinen), who dreams of escaping her dead-end job in the local match factory and ends up pregnant after a one-night stand. This unplanned for event is the catalyst that prompts her to take some kind of action that will radically alter her situation in a way you are not likely to expect.

There isn't really much to it. It clocks in at an economical 66 minutes and it is like the perfect short story. Perhaps we wouldn't want to, or don't really need to, spend any more time with Iris than we have to, (she's not an attractive character in any way). It only takes the short running time of this picture to tell us all we need to know about her and as the film progresses our initial apathy turns into a kind of grudging admiration. Small, yes; minimal, most definitely and really rather wonderful.