Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki seems to have invoked his characters and settings from another era. However, his films seem like eternal and timeless fables. In Autumn leaves, his most recent film that brought him out of his announced retirement from cinema in 2017, tells the story of Ansa and Holppa, two lonely people who meet by chance at night in Helsinki and try to find their first, only and last love. their lives. Their path toward this honorable goal is clouded by the man's alcoholism, lost phone numbers, not knowing each other's names or addresses, and life's general tendency to put obstacles in the path of those who seek their happiness. .
The Finn's new film is inserted in the universe of what was called his proletariat trilogywith shadows in paradise (1986), Ariel (1986) and The girl at the match factory (1990), in which its protagonists, Alma Pöysti (Helsinki, 42 years old) and Jussi Vatanen (Sonkajärvi, 45 years old), dialogue in a comedy full of tenderness, of luminous nostalgia. The events of Autumn leaves They take place in 2024, but the atmosphere gives the impression of the seventies or eighties, in an obvious anachronism, like the analog radio in a pub where people listen to news about Russia's war in Ukraine.
“For the actors, it's great that many scenes are very tragic, but at the same time they can be funny. And I guess that's how it is in life too. Even though your life may be miserable, there is still something fun in it,” says Vatanen over a video call with his co-star. “I guess humor is a kind of basic force that helps you get through the day in life and especially in the lives of Kaurismäki's characters,” Pöysti adds.
It is known that Kaurismäki is a lover of cinema. Although it portrays the devastation of war, the uprooting of capitalism and the isolation of contemporary life, one of the central ideas of the film is how films and the love of the seventh art play a role in these characters. , in their lives and relationships. In some films this may seem like a superficial trick, but Pöysti says that in Autumn leaves They come from a deeper place.
“There is nothing elitist about the way he does it [Kaurismäki]. It's as if he is somehow maintaining a dialogue with the cinematic gods of him. He is blinking at Chaplin, Godard or Jim Jarmusch. But it includes everyone in it. He comes from a very passionate and I guess loving and very respectful place. It's like the entire movie is filled with these hidden gems. And some of them you will understand and others you may not. But it is not something that limits you from enjoying the film,” says the actress.
“Chaplin is still the best, he kept it simple,” the Finnish director said in an interview at Cannes, where the film was awarded the Jury Prize. Considered a master of self-control, with “short but meaningful phrases,” the director of shadows in paradise He tested his protagonists with a minimalist script and the request not to rehearse beforehand and only do one take per scene. Vatanen says that “it was very easy” to trust Kaurismäki, because when he was seven or eight years old, the Finnish director already knew what it was like to present a work at the film event in The Croisette.
Pöysti admits that at first it was a “quite scary” combination, with no rehearsals and achieving it in one take. He remembers him telling them, “If you make a mistake, we can do two takes. “If it’s a disaster, they have three.” Of course, he was joking, but it was also true. For this reason, the actress dedicated time to watching all of her films, because she wanted to feel connected to a long chain of her filmography that already reaches 20 films. But in reality, like her protagonist, she agrees on the importance of the “art of trust.”
“The quality you get with that single shot is extraordinary, because these become very precious. The moments stand out and become extremely honest and pure. And at least what I learned is that when you repeat it, there is that little layer of pretending it didn't happen. And if you can capture it in one shot, you'll get very raw and honest moments. And you really start to love it. You become obsessed with capturing those moments, chasing them, and doing them well. So I guess I went from being a little terrified to absolutely loving every layer of work,” the actress concludes.
Autumn leaves is still available in some selected theaters and in streaming on the Mubi platform in Mexico and in the rest of Latin American countries.
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