Rent The Match Factory Girl (1990)

Dull & lifeless - The Match Factory Girl review by ZH

So I've never written a review on here but I decided, for the sake of others, that I had to.

I was recommended this film so much online, where the word classic was thrown around so much, that despite trying my best to keep my expectations low I was still deeply disappointed at spending an hour on this film.

The most frustrating thing is that there actually wasn't anything wrong with the plot. I mean, Girl worn down by monotonous life, who's dismissed by everyone in her life, finally snaps & takes revenge? Heck yeah I'm down for that I thought, when I read the synopsis of this movie.

The issue is the execution.

Actors had all the presence of cardboard.

The editing, cinematography, sound design etc (you know everything that makes a movie interesting) were none existent.

The soundtrack (except one song at the end) didn't stand out at all & was not used nearly as affectively as it could have been, almost always cutting off after a few seconds to the point where it seemed worthless to have even put it there to begin with.

The writing was so lifeless & forgettable that to call the film a dark comedy (neither me or my father laughed once) is both an insult to the genre & the audience.

I get that the main character's (I can't even remember her name let alone any of the other characters) life is supposed to suck, which is the only reason I gave this movie a chanse in the beginning, but the fact that the dreary tone continued the whole way through with zero contrast from her "old" life to when she became a muderer, made this film genuinely start to feel like a bit like watching paint dry.

I kept expecting a moment where it finally hits her, how angry she is at the people who wronged her & that the whole style of the movie would change. You know brighter colours, she'd get more glamorous (no longer held back by her convertive parents), she'd actually start expressing different emotions but nope the girl remained the same level of morose the way through.

I was wondering about the inclusion of all that News footage of the riots in Japan & started thinking 'ooh maybe once she finally snaps she's gonna have surreal war like fantasies as she goes on her little killing spree' but of course that dosn't happen & instead the whole news thing just stops being brought up completely & the execution of her kills are utterly mundane & boring, with her showing zero reaction or intrest in what she is about to do/has just done & not in a cool 'I'm a ruthless killer now' kind of a way or even a 'isn't it funny that I've just ended someone's life & am now just chilling' but in the 'director thinks lack of emotion makes the movie artistic'.

I used to think the people who wrote these kind of reviews on here were just the misereble old types who simply hate on anything that dosn't feed into their warped sense of nostalgia of the good old days, but now I can genuinely say that I get it.

If I could give this no stars I would. I'm sure there's a sad girl revenge fantasy out there that's good but this is not that. Utterly uninspired, don't waste your time.