What is it like to “enter” the world of director Aki Kaurismeki? The story is told by Finnish actress Alma Peisti / Article

Last year, the film won the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize, and Alma Peisti was nominated for the “Golden Globe” for her sensitive portrayal of the lonely middle-aged woman Ansa.

The name of the Finnish and Swedish theater actress Alma Peisti became more widely known to moviegoers four years ago, when she played the main role in the film “Tūve” about the writer Tūvi Jānsoni. The film “Four Little Adults” soon followed, which was also shown at the Riga International Film Festival last year, and “Fallen Leaves” – Alma Peisti’s first collaboration with Finnish cinema legend Aki Kaurismeki.

Like many Finns, she also grew up with Kaurismeki’s films, and while preparing for this role, she watched all of them again – nineteen in total.

“Step into” the world of Kaurismeki

I asked the actress – what was it like to “step into” Kaurismeki’s world and see it from the inside? “It was the fulfillment of a dream that I had never even dared to dream before. I am extremely grateful for this experience. It was a journey into the world of old-fashioned filmmaking and an opportunity to get to know the personality of the legendary Kaurismeki. He turned out to be a very warm and loving person, a real humanist. It was very inspiring. It was also exciting to get to know the old tricks in this profession, to trust the story and the viewer, as he does. Kaurismeki offers long moments of silence and allows the viewer to create his own story in them, instead of explaining what he should think or feel. Kaurismeki knows how to create space for thoughts in his films, and it’s very beautiful.”

The film “Fallen Leaves” has received very wide international attention, including several Golden Globe nominations. Asked what she thinks is the basis of this film’s universal appeal, Alma Peisti says: “Aki Kaurismeki knows how to tell very human stories, and this is one of them. Themes like loneliness and a system that you’re quite indifferent to, but also hope to find love when you’re already “expired” in the dating market… There’s a lot of hope and warmth and feel-good in this movie. Kaurismeki calls it a romantic comedy, but I think it has more salt than sugar. That makes it believable and allows the audience to identify with it. I get the impression that this film touches people, no matter where they come from. They understand the world created by this film and its peculiar humor.”

There is room for thoughts in silence

However, not everyone can understand the famous Finnish silence. Although Latvians are also a northern nation, it is possible that many of us also find common silence more awkward than Finns. Speaking about the power of silence and its importance in relationships, the actress agrees that it could be a Finnish national characteristic: “They say that there is no quieter place in the world than a Finnish public bus. The truth is, silence does not seem awkward to us in Finland, there is something quite deep and profound about it.

If you can share silence with someone, then you know you can trust them. A lot of good things happen in silence if you let it. In silence, there is room for thoughts, not just explanations.”

There aren’t many dialogues in “Fallen Leaves”, just like the music, but they are very apt. The poignant sixties Finnish tango “Zem rudens piladjiem” is one of the pieces that sets the tuning fork for the story of two middle-aged singles in Helsinki who meet in a karaoke bar. Ansa works in a supermarket, Holapa is a welder and tends to drink during work. The director’s warmth towards his characters willy-nilly evokes empathy in the audience as well.

“Fallen leaves” is the fourth part of the trilogy of “proletariat” films made by Kaurismeki in the 80s, which in itself is a typical humor of Kaurismeki. In the world created outside of time, however, modern reality occasionally intrudes with the news about the war in Ukraine playing on Ansa’s kitchen radio. As Los Angeles Times film critic Carlos Aguiar writes,

“this introduction of real-world pain into the film balances Kaurismeki’s overall approach – to extract tenderness from hardship and show how much we need each other”.

When watching the film, there is something very fragile and original in the acting – and it turns out that it is not acted. Kaurismeki did not want the actors to rehearse the scenes before filming. When asked why he did that and what the experience was like as an actress, Alma Peisti reveals: “At first it was scary because he really said: just don’t prepare too much! Know the text, but don’t rehearse before the shoot, neither together nor separately. Save it for the shoot ! Then he said that he prefers to shoot in one take… Well, if you mess up, then we can shoot twice or, in the worst case, three times. But as you can imagine, no one wants to be the one who messes up something… It’s a Kaurismeki movie ! And it’s not just the actors, it’s the lights, the props, everything else, everything has to be perfect, but what you get are the very first and only moments. because nothing was staged in advance. Yes, we went through the scenes – who would stand where, in what rhythm – but we saved all the action for the moment of filming. At one point, I liked it extremely: when with the first time everything works out and you realize that you can really do it, then you start to get high and hunt for these moments!”

She admits that this filming process taught her how interesting it is to do less:

“How much more you can get if you don’t think about what you’ve tried before and don’t try to show that you’ve done your homework. If you dare to peel back your many layers, remove your masks and be as pure and true as possible…

I’m still learning it, but filming “Fallen Leaves” has given me a little more experience. And I really appreciate that.”

Kaurismeki films on film, not digitally. Speaking to a number of brand new filmmakers returning to film highlights and appreciates the amount of attention this process requires to each frame. The actress adds that the texture of the film is also completely different: “If it’s not possible to film millions of techniques from all angles, you have to have an extremely clear and precise idea of ​​what you’re doing and what you want to achieve. That’s not bad at all! Of course, it can be very exciting to explore in the many digitally shot shots and variations. Replays of scenes can also reveal interesting human nuances, but to work with such an experienced director who really knows how to film on film and can do it beautifully… It’s a rarity these days.”

As the director Una Rosenbaum notes in the review of the film “Fallen leaves” on the “Kino rasti” portal, “if you have little time, I will say briefly – “Fallen leaves” is an absurd and comical story of true love, which fills with hopeful cynicism. (..) Comedy is built on a series of failures and mistakes; it seems that the director laughs at everything that should not be laughed at. However, Kaurismeki avoids being venomous or judging the characters. He looks at them and the situation with a warm, toothy irony they will succeed.”

When asked if it is true that Aki Kaurismeki is thinking of another film for her, Alma Peisti does not deny it: “He said that he would like to film a slapstick tragedy with me and my screen partner from “Fallen Leaves”, Jussi Vatanen”.laughs) I would be very happy to continue working with Kaurismeki. But then you’ll see. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!”