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Is penitentiary hell or paradise? The domestic new film deals with a topic that evokes a wide variety of memories
The majority of Finns have some kind of penitentiary memory. Many young people make new friends or delights from there – and are forced to reflect on the teachings of the Bible. Whether you went there inspired by faith or money, a week-long camp will inevitably leave new memories and experiences.
For some, the life of a rabbi is still inspired years later, like a domestic one Edenfilmmakers. Director, screenwriter Ulla Heikkilä recalls that he already knew then that he wanted to deal with experiences in some way in the future.
– It was not a revolutionary experience, I did not experience first love there or anything terribly raffling, but the experience was interesting, because during the week a so temporary community was formed.
Later, it was easy for Heikkilä to choose a story that deals with community instead of one or two protagonists as the subject of the first feature film.
Eden is an ensemble film about a temporary community of young people from different backgrounds. While the backgrounds of the characters remain largely unknown, the variegated characters reflect their own family and upbringing. What all the characters have in common is that they are still looking for themselves and their place in the world.
Heikkilä says that it doesn’t really come from a religious family. However, as a child, he was fascinated by religion, thanks to his grandmother from Old-fashioned Lestadian.
– As a child, I had a Christian belief of my own kind, which probably began to falter at that stage of early adolescence.
The instructor says he went to the penitentiary as a little old, ready to question the doctrines of the church. Heikkilä says he was ready to give the church a chance and present his own case. He would then be able to make an enlightened decision: whether to belong to the church or not.
Heikkilä resigned from the church when he turned 15 years old.
– But it is said that that debate is still “on going”, I have not yet made any definitive decisions about it. Yes, I feel like I have some kind of strong religious plot in myself that I implement how I implement.
The desired social opening may not have come from the penitentiary, but one of the strongest consequences came perhaps even from a slightly surprising party: a boy in a leather jacket with the pin of the rock band Led Zeppelin.
– I may have been a little fond of him, but I didn’t realize it then. I remember the first thing I did when I got home after camp was listening to Faiya with a vinyl instrument through the first lp of Led Zeppelin. I thought Wow, now my life is starting!
Externality
Actor Amos Brotherus says he belongs to the church but considers himself more customarily Christian. Religion was not so strongly associated with his rib, but was meant to be more fun.
– I went to a Missionary club with gangs all over Finland, but also from the Yankees and France. My best friend went there, and I wanted to go to a rapper with a lot of new guys but still someone he knows.
Also A girl named Sparrow an actor who won an award from Juss Linnea Skog admits that religion was a secondary consideration on leaving camp. Many friends had told me that there was something nice, which inspired him.
– Yes, I liked it. From the beginning of the week I was shy and I was pretty much in the room, but the big ones and the guys patted me to come from there now, play pool, ping pong and more. It had a bit to get used to, but in the end it was really nice.
Eden’s all executives experience a sense of alienation in their own way. It culminates best in the character of Jenna, played by Skog.
Director Ulla Heikkilä has also written the film. Dealing with externality is no coincidence, as he says he experienced a lot of feelings of externality when he was young.
– Maybe it is the age of the penitentiary camp that is important, because I think that only then did I end a long period of outsourcing. There were a lot of friends and a new life in high school. Primary and middle school was a challenging time.
Brotherus says he recognizes a sense of alienation, but has not himself suffered from it in the same way in his own life.
– Yes, I have felt like outsiders, but it is fortunately not been in any way or determining the key thing in my life. It seems that I have often done well in social situations. For example, I saw the same traits in my character Sampo as in myself. That, for example, a penitentiary is easy to get to know new types and is socially open.
Skog believes that at some point in their lives, everyone experiences a state of being outside.
– I have had feelings that I am not one of them. Being outside can come when others are interested in different things than themselves, or when others are outside together. But everyone will probably experience it at some point.
He also thinks it can be a big reason why people aren’t always afraid to say to each other out loud what they think.
– It’s also related to the fact that you don’t want to feel like an outsider. There can be a lot of fear that people will judge you for what you like and what you say.
Brotherus wonders that age may also affect this. The young person may be insecure and may not want to be outspoken. Fear of not knowing how another person reacts or what others think of things. He sees that problem strongly on the ribs and in schools.
Heikkilä will continue to speak.
– A person is probably a little too afraid of the judgment of others and that he will be ridiculed if he says out loud what he thinks.
hypocrisy
Despite its change and timeliness, religion is a topic that has been covered very little in domestic cinema today. Perhaps it is thought that since religion is no longer actually in vogue, it is not of interest to viewers either. At least there are more media-sexy topics.
In recent years, of course, religions have been treated from the perspective of exceptions: conservative Lestadianism In forbidden fruit (Dome Karukoski, 2009) or sect In Mary’s paradise (Zaida Bergroth, 2019).
Christianity has a huge foothold, and exploring it, especially through the eyes of modern youth, is by no means an exhausted idea. On the contrary: the church loses its members and the clergy are no longer considered the cream of society alongside the bourgeoisie and nobles.
Religion contains many interesting themes ranging from moral issues to sin but also holiness. Especially hypocrisy. Distortion is always more interesting than perfection, and it is seen as well Eden’s in many characters.
Today, it is not easy to live true to oneself. Amos Brotherus wonders if he himself is caught up in hypocrisy.
– Yes, I think so. In some everyday ethical choices, when then both do some things that are not in line with it. That’s probably what everyone does. In the Vitos class, I woke up to the fact that I would never visit Mäkkär again, and I have not visited since. When you think you are awake in such things and are on the right track, you might momentarily think you are a really good person.
Ulla Heikkilä sees hypocrisy as not exposing her own thinking to observation. A hypocritical person demands something from another that he does not.
– The film is good for telling about primary feelings, such as falling in love, falling in love, anger, an experience of holiness or lust. I think that’s why childhood and youth are so often the subject of movies. In childhood and adolescence, quite a few of those are our primary feelings. At that age, they are in a tactile form.
He likes film as an art form because it can tell so well about these things. Heikkilä admits to being a great friend of teen movies. He comes to mind first Fucking Åmal (1999), Virgin Suicides (1999) and American Honey (2016).
Does religion offer anything to people today? As science has risen to present facts, beliefs have become narrow. Does religion have a place in modern society?
Linnea Skog is not sure, but she emphasizes the personality of religion.
– Maybe it has, but religion is such a thing for everyone. Everyone has their own views on how important it is. I don’t think it matters so much what religion a person belongs to. Everyone can still be together, regardless of religion.
Brotherus sees that religion is still strongly present in society in many ways, at least in practice. However, in his view, it is no longer a single factor that unites everyone.
– I can by no means argue that there would be no role in society. Of course it is, and in this time it is, in a sense, strongly visible as multiculturalism grows and religions meet. Different religions and religiosity are often featured in the social debate for good and evil. I see it as part of modern society, but in quite a number of ways.
Heikkilä believes that a certain kind of longing for spirituality and susceptibility to experiences of spirituality are encoded in a large number of people. According to him, religion is a natural place to seek comfort in the midst of major crises. However, its role in society makes you think.
– In a way, I know that a certain right answer is that it is not, because for many years we have been able to read the history books of all trend thinkers, the main conclusion of which is that humanity is evolving from religiosity to the light of science. Personally, I may not see that development as straightforward.
Garden of Eden
This year Eden feels like a distant memory of all those summers when summer pastures were open, falling in love, breaking hearts, and being close to others. The recent film acts as a longing nostalgic strip, but Linnea Skog believes that Edenillä there is much to give, especially to young people looking for their identity.
He says he enjoyed the filming immensely and made eternal friends from the production.
– That was the most important thing for me. I made a lot of wonderful friends. Ulla was quite an awesome director, from whom I learned a lot. I’m really happy and grateful that I got to be involved in the film.
The Garden of Eden is referred to in the Bible to the paradise from which Adam and Eve had to leave because God was angry with them. As a final question, I wanted to know what the filmmakers ’own Garden of Eden is. There was something very similar and familiar in everyone’s responses.
– I really like nature. Lots of flowers, good weather, friends around and some waterfront where you can swim, Linnea Skog says.
– Such a boring and middle-aged Finnish national answer, but I answer my summer cottage, Ulla Heikkilä says.
– I intuitively meant to say a summer cottage, but on the other hand I think that place can change and open at certain moments when things are going well. When you cycle with friends on a perfect summer day, it shows up in such a place and moment. It’s anything at times, but it requires a good vibe and good company. It is often a summer Helsinki, but so far it has not settled in a certain place, thinks Amos Brotherus.
Maybe Eden is an emotional state.
Text: Jesse Raatikainen
Photos: Sami Kuokkanen / Tekele Productions
See also: Eden