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THE BASICS

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Aki Kaurismäki's

Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö / The Match Factory Girl (1990)

This short (69 minutes) almost wordless film shows the bitter result of a good time had in bad times gone bad. Think about it. A revenge story.

The style here is the thing.

Bleak, bleak, bleak but the revenge is sweet. Sort of.

But it is mesmerizing to watch. I was putting on my sneakers as it began and I sat holding one of them in my hand for 15 or more minutes.

The Finns are people of few words and it is all here without them. The acting is superb as are the beautifully mundane surroundings.

The match factory is a fascinating metaphor for the life depicted. The match ignites. Then, well, goes out.

I liked it a lot and will get the rest of the trilogy of films discussed at the link.

The Proletariat Trilogy.

It sounds dangerously socialistic.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: best films