FEATURE

Translated By DeepL

Outside Aki Kaurismäki's Kino Laika cinema, as seen by Yorisua Oshima.
Travelling to the theatre

Yoria Oshima saw it,
Outside Aki Kaurismäki's Kino Laika cinema.

The film "Kino Laika: Cinema in a Small Town" will be released on December 14. Kino Laika is a movie theater co-created by filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki in the Finnish country town of Karkkila. Yoromoa Oshima, who designed the film, actually visited the cinema and was impressed by its splendor, which was not depicted in the film. In this issue, we will explore the appeal of "Kino Laika" from a different perspective than the movie, based on photos taken by Mr. Oshima of the site and his realistic impressions.

  • Photo_Hiroki Oe
  • Text_Taisaku Ikeda
  • Edit_Yuri Sudo
  • Special Thanks_Euro Space

PROFILE

Yoria Oshima

Born in Tochigi Prefecture, graduated from Tokyo Zokei University. He has been designing mainly graphics for movies, exhibition publicity materials, and books for a living. Major works include "Paterson," "Midsummer," and "Withered Leaves" for films, "Shuntaro Tanikawa" and "Moomin" for exhibitions, and "Birds/Bana Yoshimoto" and "Small Boxes/Yoko Ogawa" for books.
Instagram:@ideaoshima
X:@oshimaidea

A tour of locations for Kaurismäki's films.

I heard that you visited Kallkkila, Finland, where Kaurismäki's movie theater is located. Was it for the visual design of this film?

No, no, no. If so, it would be a very extravagant job (laughs). I was going to visit the area for another project related to Finland. Right around that time, I was asked by the film's distributor to make a documentary film about "Kino Laika. When I saw this film, I really wanted to visit the area.

I am sure that the film has a mysterious charm that makes people want to visit the site.

So, I have an opportunity to visit Finland. However, I thought it would be impossible since it was a 5-day/3-night trip and the content of the inspection was to be determined, but with the help of a designer named Etsuro Endo, who also works as a local coordinator, I was able to work from the morning on the last day and managed to make it until my flight in the evening.

So your main focus was on Helsinki.

Yes, it was. It was a lot of fun. For example, this is the location of the opening scene in the Helsinki version of "Night on the Planet" where the drunks come out.

There was also a sign saying that this is where "Night on the Planet" was shot. When I saw the movie, I thought it would be in the middle of nowhere, where you couldn't even call a cab, but I was surprised to see that it was in a normal town (laughs).

It sounds like a Kaurismäki location tour (laughs).

Oh yeah. So Karkkila is about an hour's drive from Helsinki, and when we were about to arrive at the movie theater, I turned on this video.

It's like walking into a factory. I wondered if there really is a movie theater in such a place. The area is like a cold country town. In light of my experience, it was similar to Anchorage, Alaska, for example, and had a bit of the "Twin Peaks" atmosphere.

As depicted in the movie, the cinema was originally a foundry, wasn't it?

Yes, it is. But how did you change it? It was so completely transformed into a movie theater that I wondered how they managed to make it look like a movie theater. As depicted in the film, I thought it must have been a very deep movie theater because it was done by hand, but it was much more sophisticated than I had imagined (laughs).

Photo right/ On the left is Mika Ratti, co-owner of Kino Laika; on the right is Mr. Oshima; behind him is Toshitake Shinohara, mentioned below.

For example, the acoustics were excellent. I thought it was going to be retro, but there were several state-of-the-art speakers lined up in a row. They also show American blockbusters and blockbusters. When I visited, they were showing "Gladiator II" or something like that. They showed three short films by Kaurismäki specially for me, and the screen was very beautiful. I wanted to see "Gladiator II" here as well (laughs). If there were a list of "20 movie theaters in the world I would like to visit at least once," I am sure this would be one of the best movie theaters.

I didn't feel that kind of atmosphere at all in the film.

It's very stylish. There is a bar and cafe space, and behind it is a conference room-like space that also functions as a community space where residents gather to watch sports or have dinner together. The painting on display here is a painting by Kaurismäki's wife. I was told that both his wife and Kaurismäki's father are painters.

It is nice to have such a cinema in a town with a population of 9,000.

I envy you. In the play, Kaurismäki himself participated in the DIY construction, but he blended in so naturally that you couldn't even tell it was him (laughs). But I felt that he must have spent a lot of money. One would think that a filmmaker who continues to live in his hometown would not have much money, but I heard that he has a solid business sense, holding concerts and so on.

What did you think of the film "Kino Laika: Cinema in a Small Town"?

You know, the songs in the film were wonderful. A Japanese guy named Shinohara-san, whose songs have been used in Kaurismäki's films, invited me to his friend's house and showed me how some of us were doing a session.

You are Toshitake Shinohara, who also appeared in this play.

It was exactly like an ideal retirement, too cool and numb.

From the movie, I got the impression that there are many artists and other interesting people in the town of Carcilla.

I didn't get that much out of my short stay there, but that's what you get from watching movies. The reason I went to Anchorage, as I mentioned earlier, was because there was an American drama series in the 90's called "Travelling to Alaska," which I loved. A comedy-drama without the mystery element of "Twin Peaks," so to speak, with all the weird people.

For example, the radio DJ was a core fan of Ingmar Bergman, and there were a lot of intelligent and particular people in the show. It reminded me of that. Maybe I am just narrow-minded, but I thought that even among people living quietly in the countryside, there are intelligent and individualistic activities. I thought such things only existed in dramas, but even during my short stay, I felt that they actually exist and that they are wonderful.

In the play, there are many residents of Carcilla.

The people who appear are also full of mysteries because there are almost no explanations. Who is this person? (laughs). (Laughs.) But I liked the looseness of the film, the lack of explanations. I felt that if Kaurismäki himself made a documentary, it would be like this. It directly asks the question, "What is a movie and a movie theater? It is a very deep film that directly asks the question, "What is cinema and cinema? What is a film essentially? I think that in many cases, when people ask what cinema is, they are talking about the time axis, but since this is a story about a movie theater, the question is naturally asked from a geographical perspective, which is a characteristic of this film. It was a very good film.

There is a scene in the play where the musician Hella Uruppo recalls that when she met Kaurismäki, she told him that she had expected to meet him someday and knew it was today. I was surprised that he could say something like that in everyday life and not just in dialogue.

It really is, and it's kind of misleading. I thought Finnish people are like characters in a Kaurismäki movie (laughs).

I was also surprised to hear that Kaurismäki himself is a DIYer, working from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

That's exactly what we can say that Kaurismäki himself created the cinema. He is the one who makes the money and does the work. Since the director himself is working, of course everyone is working hard. So I don't really know, but I felt like I was getting a glimpse of the stance of the filmmakers. But still, I thought he worked really fast and efficiently. I was worried about him because he is old and inactive, but I was happy to see him work so hard. I wondered if he could work like this.

You must be a very inactive person.

He has been mischievous and fond of drinking since he was young. When you watch old interview footage from Cannes, you can see him with a bottle of shochu by his side. There are many other videos of him like that. The video of the interview with Tetsuya Chikushi is really amazing, so please find it somewhere and watch it. However, I am relieved to hear that it is not that much these days.

I'll watch it! Are there any other memorable scenes in the movie?

There was a scene toward the end where a film critic was interviewing Jim Jarmusch, and I was impressed by the very intelligent and excellent content.

INFORMATION

Kino Laika: The Cinema of a Small Town

Director/Screenplay/Cinematography/Editor: Veliko Vidak
Screenplay : Emmanuel Felche
Cast: Aki Kaurismäki, Mika Ratti, Karkkila residents, Jim Jarmusch, Mauste Tutot, Nup Koivu, Simon Hussein Albazoun, Yuho Kuosmanen, Amy Tobin
Original title: CINEMA LAIKA
Distributor: Eurospace
Courtesy of Eurospace, King Records
©43eParallele

2023/France/Finland/81min/2.00:1/Dolby Digital 5.1ch/DCP/Finnish, English, French/Documentary
Saturday, December 14, 2024, in theaters nationwide including Eurospace

Official Site

【 Kino Leica Special Exhibition]

Venue: Eurospace
Duration: ( Sat Dec 14, 2024~End date TBD
Exhibited goods: Kino Laika Original T-shirts, hoodies, caps, knitting boxes, beer, posters, Mika Ratti poetry book, postcards, etc.

【 Greetings from the stage and talk event]

(i)
Venue: Eurospace
Address: 4F, 1-5 Maruyamacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Dates: December 14 (Sat) after the 12:15 and 14:20 screenings (both with greetings from the stage and Q&A), December 15 (Sun) after the 14:45 screening (Q&A only)
Speaker: Director Veliko Vidak

(2)
Venue: Cinema Neko
Address: On the premises of Ome Textile Industry Cooperative Association, 3-123 Nishibun-cho, Ome-shi, Tokyo
Date: December 15 (Sun.) after the 10:00 screening
Speaker: Director Veliko Vidak

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