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InFallen Leaves, Alma Poysti has to do a lot with a little.
Her character, a supermarket drudge named Ansa, wears an impassive gaze and tends not to say much.
(See her charming reaction videohere.)
Your nomination was one of the Golden Globes most pleasant surprises.
Was any part of you hoping for this?No, I could never have anticipated this.
I said, Okay, yes, cool, the films on the list.
Then I got out of the interview and realized that its me as well.
That was really kind of surreal.
I understand that Akidiscouraged rehearsalsand wanted to do a single take whenever possible.
When you get asked to join one of his movies, you kind of know what the tone is.
It was fairly simple in that way.
You trust Aki because hes so exact.
What was this experience like for you before the first take on the first day?Anticipation was high.
He told us not to rehearse, but that doesnt mean you cant prepare.
You just have to be somewhat clever about it.
I rewatched all of Akis movies.
Somehow it felt like our film is linked to the others.
Then I went to work in those places where Ansa is working.
You usually talk about daring to fail, and that will give you discoveries.
But here, you really have to dare to succeed.
Its essential for his work to get the rhythm right.
It was the most minimalistic rehearsals because we saved all that you could call life for the camera.
Everything needs to work in that one take.
What I really enjoyed was that I was there on the set.
When we were lighting, for example, I just sat there and calibrated myself into the frame.
I discovered some kind of meditation that really helped everybody because then its the right face that gets lit.
Its an ensemble thats technicians and actors.
You dont make a distinction between the team and the cast, and I really like that.
Its like an instrument in an orchestra thats tuning before you play.
Was there a scene where you requested a second take?No.
I needed to trust Aki, and if he was happy, then it was good.
He was there all the time right beside the camera.
He didnt use a monitor, which was astounding.
He wasnt somewhere far away looking at the frame.
I want to talk about filming the silences.
Youve said in other interviews that silence is a very comfortable Finnish concept.
She has a second plate, he has bought flowers, they finally meet after all of these misunderstandings.
And theyre not really used to dating at all.
The actor inside of you is doing cartwheels because its such a delicate scene.
Everything is so important.
The sound each fork makes against the plate thats the dialogue right there.
I would compare it to jazz.
You just keep daring to drag out those silences and those awkward moments.
How much can we make them count?
It takes some courage because you get so embarrassed as well.
Suddenly these shy people are seen, so one very human thing would be to rush in that moment.
But you give a shot to stretch it.
Then, when someone said kiitos, which means thank you, the whole room exploded.
Its not worth it.
Sometimes we couldnt have it on for technical reasons.
One thing I think were all processing is the psychic toll of these terrible world conditions.
I think it works on many levels, actually.
Theres the real-life level: It reminds us whats going on, this terrible aggression.
But the characters are living in this kind of fairy tale where there is a war going on.
It could be us in a heartbeat, so what are you going to do about your day?
Are you going to take the risk of falling in love?
It gives you a sense of carpe diem, to use a cliche.
And Ansa and Holappa are aware.
They are following society.
Its a kind of responsibility as a citizen to be aware of things.
That was a position from Kaurismaki about these people: Theyre not lazy in terms of the world.
They may be isolated, but they havent totally checked out.
Theyre processing reality at this particular moment.
Theyre these cinematic buddies.
Ive been thinking with Jussi that maybe its like a test.
Holappa tests Ansa to see if shes wife material, if she can handle the movie.
Thats our own theory.
The reference is not the point.
Its just a little visual comment or in-joke.And they dont exclude anyone.
There are multiple dialogues, which is quite fun to discover.
Speaking of Chaplain, I must ask about the charming dog you got to befriend and work with.
I know thats Akis actual dog, which Im sure helped in terms of having a good scene partner.
Oh my gosh!Its quite a coincidence.
Or is it a coincidence?
I guess its a sign.
We got along so well.
We were playing around a lot before we started to shoot.
I visited her and always got her some treats.
It just turned out that shes a fantastic actress, and very professional.
Shes got a really high level of concentration.
This is her debut, but she has a sense of rhythm.
She was making these very strong artistic choices that were completely independent.
If youre the directors dog, you could get away with stuff like that.
It was mind-blowing to all of us.
She was really in the story.
Ansa and the dog really save each other at that point in the story.
Its not only Ansa whos saving the dog, because shes so heartbroken.
And theres also a hint that their two friends are going to have a similar coming together.
Do you see a lot of double dates in their future?I hope so.
I guess they would have a hilarious time going tenting or something.
Thats a very nice thought.
I can see them all in a tent somewhere, just camping out in some forest.
A lot of humor and silence.
