Throughout my exploration of brilliant Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki's "Proletariat Trilogy" I have noticed the repetition of several themes and stylistic choices, which include:
Dry, deadpan humor.
An often melancholic atmosphere.
Cinematography that is both colorful and grounded in reality
Realistic characters (meaning: characters that are highly flawed, often awkward-the type of people one ignores while taking a daily stroll, played by actors who are not glamorous or ugly).
Getting the audience to root for behaviors they otherwise would not be rooting for.
"The Match Factory Girl", an excellent film that may very well be his masterpiece, embodies all of these little traits, especially the final one. I refuse to spoil the surprises this film keeps in store for its viewers, but I will imply that the heroine definitely engages in some acts that would be villainous in almost any other movie. However, through the lens of Aki Kaurismäki anyone can be likable, and anything can be hilarious.
Although it is less predominant that in most of his other works, Aki Kaurismäki's sly sense of dry comedy lurks throughout this tragic drama. There were several instances in which I genuinely (and unexpectedly) burst with juvenile laughter at scenes that would often be considered too sad to be funny. I have compared certain Aki Kaurismäki films to the works of Wes Anderson, but now I must also compare him to the likes of Ingmar Bergman and Todd Solondz.
There is no denying that this film is both dark and comic, it is a sad, yet surprisingly entertaining little look at an unfortunate life.
Dry, deadpan humor.
An often melancholic atmosphere.
Cinematography that is both colorful and grounded in reality
Realistic characters (meaning: characters that are highly flawed, often awkward-the type of people one ignores while taking a daily stroll, played by actors who are not glamorous or ugly).
Getting the audience to root for behaviors they otherwise would not be rooting for.
"The Match Factory Girl", an excellent film that may very well be his masterpiece, embodies all of these little traits, especially the final one. I refuse to spoil the surprises this film keeps in store for its viewers, but I will imply that the heroine definitely engages in some acts that would be villainous in almost any other movie. However, through the lens of Aki Kaurismäki anyone can be likable, and anything can be hilarious.
Although it is less predominant that in most of his other works, Aki Kaurismäki's sly sense of dry comedy lurks throughout this tragic drama. There were several instances in which I genuinely (and unexpectedly) burst with juvenile laughter at scenes that would often be considered too sad to be funny. I have compared certain Aki Kaurismäki films to the works of Wes Anderson, but now I must also compare him to the likes of Ingmar Bergman and Todd Solondz.
There is no denying that this film is both dark and comic, it is a sad, yet surprisingly entertaining little look at an unfortunate life.