My Favorite out of the Proletariat Trilogy

When Jim Jarmusch's "Night On Earth" first came out I was 13yo and I remember having really enjoyed watching it together as a family. So my wife recently bought it for me this past XMAS. I just got around to finally listening to the director commentary. I didn't remember the Helsinki part at all in my recollection. This time it stood out. So when JJ said in his commentary to watch Aki Kaurismaki films, I took his suggestion very seriously.

I bought the Proletariat Trilogy and watched all of them back to back right away. I was so surprised about how great these were. My interest was initially based in seeing more Matti Pellonpaa performances, only to be wonderfully surprised by what a great film maker AK is and to discover the mesmerizing actress Kati Outlinen!

I really liked Matti Pellonpaa in "Ariel" and "Shadows of Paradise", he totally delivers by way of expectations from having seen him in "Night On Earth". I was caught off guard in the best way by "The Match Factory Girl".

Kati Outlinen's character Iris had me wanting to tear my heart out and give it to her as an offering through the whole movie. The whole time you feel like why can't someone be nice to her? Outlinen's performance is so precise and literal it comes across as being so movingly real.

I think the ending is perfect. The final bar scene had me busting a gut. For me this was the only humorous moment in the film. Whereas with the other two movies you almost get an ebb and flow of humor and tragedy. The dry dark humor in the other movies work as emotional salvation, with TMFG you get a dose of it at the end and by this point it's too little too late. Which I thought was clever and unique. I found myself sharing the same sentiment as Iris, which I interpreted as *beep* It!".



I can't wait to see more of AK's films , so psyched!