ROSE & IVY In Conversation With Alma Pöysti On Her Film 'Fallen Leaves'

You have had quite the whirlwind traveling the globe for your film ‘Fallen Leaves’, but now you are back in Finland.

Yes, I leave for Tokyo on Wednesday and I am staying for more than a week.

Awesome! You were in LA, France, Mexico, and New York. do you get to carve out any time when you travel to such great places?

It depends; in Japan, I am going to stay a couple more days because it isn’t every day that you get to go to Japan.

That’s exciting though because you are promoting something wonderful.

My mission now is to spy on audiences in different countries to see how the movie lands with different people. It really does; everyone seems to connect with it.

Do you go in as yourself or do you go in disguise?

I go in and I listen (laughs).

I loved this film. I loved the unexpected love story, the dry, witty humor, the quiet moments, the cinematography. It was such a delight to watch.

For 81 minutes, you are in a warm place.

Can you share more about what excited you the most about this project and working with acclaimed finnish director, Aki Kaurismaki?

One day I got a phone call that Aki Kaurismaki would like to meet me for lunch. I was out of breath in a second, it came so out of the blue. I have been watching his films forever, he is the grand auteur in Finland. The man is a legend, he is just fantastic, but I never in a million years expected to work with him. Also, six years ago he said he made his last movie so for many reasons it was completely far out. I got to lunch and there he was, a real person, with paint on his hands. There was also Jussi Vatanen, my costar, who I hadn’t worked with before either. We sat there and at first, everyone was a bit shy, but then we started to talk about anything but the movie. We talked about the forest, politics, mushrooms, asparagus, and dogs. Towards the end, he said he had this idea for a film and he asked if we wanted to join the project, and that was the second surprise. Like, did that really just happen?

There wasn’t a script at that time, it came around a year later and it was just an amazing text. It was like poetry. As you probably realized he is a man of few words and the script was really short. It was extremely clear and exact. There were these wonderful descriptions of these people, the world they inhabit, their encounters, their shyness, and their solitude. He described them so accurately. I realized it was a unique script and I was very touched by the story. I laughed so much. We call him the master of one-liners now. You have to pay attention, I realized all of the clues are in the script, I just had to learn how to read it carefully. Everything about her is there, I didn’t have to add or invent anything, I just needed to pick up those things and develop those traits.

What was your process like of getting into the character of Ansa? was it the same as other projects with a lot of dialogue?

He said he didn’t want us to rehearse but I needed to do something—I am a real geek and I love preparing. So I rewatched all of his movies. I felt like I was a small link in a long chain and that maybe this character was a distant cousin to some other character in another film. I use the word spy a lot because I also spy on directors. I want to get into their head, hearts, and universes to be able to tell their stories the best I can. That is my approach usually, it applied here too just with a different method.

Was it at all nerve-racking to not have that time to rehearse in tandem with working with someone you admired? Or, did it happen organically once all of the pieces were in place on set?

Both, it was thrilling but you know you want to do your best, but it was a risk. It’s always a risk like love (laughs). Will it be magic, or will it be a disaster? (laughs). Expectations were there for sure.

Alma is wearing a jumpsuit by Vuokko.

Alma is wearing a dress by Samuji.

Did your theater background help you with that process?

I approach my roles as first we are acquaintances and I need to gain their trust. If I gain their trust, then they will reveal their secrets to me and I can tell their story. I always have to be able to defend and understand the role. There has to be a level of respect or otherwise, I will be creating cliches or judging them and that’s not the kind of work I want to do. He also said that he wanted to do it all in one take, in combination with no rehearsal. But it is also beautiful and it works. He catches these raw, honest, and pure moments when something happens for the first and only time. The first day was quite nerve-racking but then you start to love it, chase these moments, and get it right from the start. You then calibrate yourself with the set, the lights, the props, costumes, and the concentration is so high from everyone because everyone needs to nail it. It’s not only the actors who can’t fail (laughs).

How long did you shoot it?

We shot it in about 20 days, which is not much for a feature film, but makes it more economical. You can see he has produced a bunch of movies because he doesn’t want to leave anything on the clipboard. He also shot it on 35mm film.

Yes, I loved that aspect, it looks like the film is set in time, but it is modern day.

He creates these fairytales. He blends all of these times–the calendar on the wall says 2024–so it’s like a sci-fi movie. You have these old interiors of the train but outside it is modern. You can forget about logic, which I guess is quite boring anyway.

While it is a romantic comedy there are poignant moments of silence and the characters grapple with hard emotions like loneliness, depression, issues with drinking, and the Ukraine war.

They have been through some hard times, all of them. Just the faces passing by, the loneliness and longing is there and they support the same story, which is very touching. I believe he finds all of these people and he paints with us somehow. It’s nice as an actor when you realize you can just trust him and the moment. You have to be brave enough to take away all of the layers and masks and be as pure and honest as you possibly can be and then let the camera in on that.

What have been some of your favorite comments from people that made you feel the best?

That it gives people hope. If you manage to give someone hope that’s the best thing you can ever achieve as an artist. It isn't a sugary love story, it’s a rough one. I guess that’s it, that you can believe in it. They have a hard time and they still manage to be courageous, meet, and find companionship. It gives examples of different kinds of care and different kinds of love. It might be a colleague, a dog, lover, that kind of loyalty that they have is really inspiring. That is what touches people. Everyone knows what loneliness is. It might look different in different cultures, but that place you have inside your heart when you are lonely resonates. The humor is the ground force of how you get through the day. We desperately need that. In the beginning, both had given up on love and had no expectations so at that point you can’t be disappointed. As soon as they take a risk, they fall in love and that is very real.

I loved it, I like to walk away with something light in my heart.

The war on the radio in the background somehow reminds us how fragile life is and that it’s now that we live and tomorrow is a different matter. So, what are you going to do about your day? How are you going to take that risk?

I really love that. Congratulations on winning the Cannes film festival Grand Jury Prize for it. It must feel very cool to have your work recognized on a stage like that. is it all surreal?

Very surreal, it’s been surreal ever since that first phone call. The surrealness keeps taking on a new dimension. So many times I have thought, I never saw that coming. I was blown away about that phone call and now we are traveling and talking about it and talking about real matters. It feels like this film brings out real conversations, which has been lovely, about what people are feeling and connecting with.

You grew up with a family in the industry. Would you say you were destined to be an actor?

I had it in my heart forever but I could have been a fireman or a nurse. I had all of the choices but my secret dream was to be a part of that world for a long time. I grew up in the theater and I thought it was a very magical place but then again I didn’t know if I would have the talent or courage for it. At some point, I needed to decide and I was brave enough to pursue this. I decided when I was 19, I would give myself a year because it is a life choice. I respect actors enough to know that it wasn’t going to just try a little bit, it was do or don’t. I feel very fortunate there is a place for me here.

What type of work intrigues you the most?

I love it when the work surprises me and somehow throws me off balance. I want to stay open in my routines and habits but I do love working in different countries and cultures. That is something that keeps you awake when something unfamiliar might happen. For me, it’s always about the script and who is doing it. When I read a script something has to happen inside. I need to be shaken a little bit for it to grasp me. There has to be meaning, or I can’t do it.

I understand that completely.

You invest your heart and soul and your time and that’s how I want to work. I wouldn’t be happy with myself if I was comprising that.

Before I let you go, you mentioned at the shoot that you have a beehive on an archipelago in Finland. Tell me more!

It’s totally a hobby. It was something that covid brought to me. I had this phobia of buzzing things ever since I stepped into a wasp nest when I was five. I don’t like to carry around fears. So I started to rescue bumble bees and then bigger insects. Then I came to the point that I got interested in beekeeping. During the pandemic all of the theaters were closed so I had time to take a course. It’s on a hobby level but I have two beehives on an archipelago.

How is the honey?

It is amazing. They are so important and fascinating how they communicate and build their hives.

What else fuels your creative work?

I spend a lot of time outdoors in the forest or at sea, or gardening.

Follow alma pöysti on instagram

‘fallen leaves’ is now in theaters

A special thank you to Mubi and Narrative PR.

In Conversation With Alma Pöysti On Her Film 'Fallen Leaves'