The Disciple, Finland's Submission for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. U.S. : None Yet. Producer: Långfilm Productions Finland Oy
With The Disciple , her third narrative feature, Finnish director Ulrika Bengts returns to tell another coming-of-age story set in a remote island, but this time with darker undertones. Intriguing and strikingly beautiful the film follows Karl, an orphan who wants to learn the ropes and help in the island's lighthouse. However, the man in charge, Hasselbon, is not fond of the idea. His extreme standards make his own son Gustaf's life miserable, as he doesn't think he has what it takes to become the captain of a ship. Although simple in its conception, the great performances and the atmosphere created by the outstanding soundtrack make for a suspenseful experience. Bengts talked to us about how difficult it was to shoot on the island, her own take on working with actors, and the process to create the film's score.
Read the Review for The Disciple Here
Carlos Aguilar: The music is extremely expressive and evocative in this film; can you talk about the process of finding or composing this music?
Ulrika Bengts: The composer is my husband, Peter Hägerstrand, so we have been working together for about twenty years making other movies together. But this time it was a real challenge because I told him I didn’t want to have any melodies in the music, I wanted it to be disharmonic. Peter made music that didn’t sound melodious at all but it didn’t fit the picture, it was totally wrong. I was obsessed with this idea that it should be industrial in a way. But then one day when we met he said “Ok, in the end I recorded something else that is not for this movie” and then I listened to it and it was going to be the friendship theme between the two guys, and then I went ”Yes, here it is, it should be really a really melodious score based on piano, violin, cello.” So that’s how we made it. And of course the piano scene when Dorrit, the mother plays, was part of the story, and we composed that piece before we started shooting.
Aguilar: How did you work with cast in order to achieve such emotional, yet subdued performances?
Bengts: I was so lucky that we had a week of rehearsals together, just me and the actors. Because the actors didn’t know each other before, they were completely new to each other. We talked a lot about the characters, about their back story, their background, what happened to them before the film starts, and what we thought happens after the film ends. I handled it by talking a lot.
Aguilar: Specifically talking about the young cast, how did you handle the violent sequences with them?
Bengts: I’ve mad a lot of films with young actors and with children, so it is not unfamiliar to me. I think I handle young actors exactly the same way I handle grown up actors, by asking the same questions. Because when we are on the set, they are not children or teenagers, they are actors, and they are working. Basically, when we had that week of rehearsal I wanted to give them some terminology, like the words we use when we are filming.Erik Lönngren, he plays Karl, I had worked with him before on my first feature Iris, which was two years before The Disciple, and he is a very skilled amateur actor. He has been in a lot of amateur stage plays. But Patrik Kumpulainen, the guy playing Gustaf, this was his very first experience, not only in film but also as an actor, he had never acted before. When we were rehearsing he really made me nervous because he used to ask me “Ulrika, what kid of face to you want me to put on in this scene” and I said “Patrick my dear boy, acting is not about putting on faces, you have to understand your character and feel his feelings” and he understood it. It was really cheerful to see the way he developed during this five weeks that we were shooting on the island.
Aguilar: The film seems to be about fathers and sons and about achieving certain expectations. Hasselbond, the patriarch, wants to be in control. Would you agree these are the messages the film tries to convey?
Bengts: I think The Disciple is mainly about control. The father is trying to control everyone, both the living and the dead on the island, he trusts no one, and he is prepared to be betrayed at every moment. I was interested in exploring what happens to people that have to live under such circumstances, where someone else is setting the rules and you have to obey in every situation. To me Karl is the main character because he wants to stay in the island due to his own background of course. For him this is a new opportunity in life and he really wants to be good in Hasselbond’s eyes, even though he understands he is not a good person and that the rules in this island are not sane. This is a very sick kind of micro-society, but he still tries to obey the rules and he goes through moral choices in almost every scene.
Aguilar: Do you think the story worked better by not showing Elof’s story, Gustaf’s older brother who died mysteriously?
Bengts: Yes, I wanted to make it so that the audience could make up their own pictures of how Elof’s life was and what happened t him.
Aguilar: Do you see Hasselbond , the father, as the villain or a product of his isolated environment?
Bengts : Of course I think he is evil because no one has the right to behave the way he behaves, but It think Niklas Groundstroem who played Hasselbond, has some kind of sensitivity and honorability that makes you feel that he is a poor wounded person. I didn’t want to show what happened to him, or why he has become the way he is. Personally, I think that because he has bonded so much with Karl, he had the same experiences as Karl had.
Aguilar: Could you talk about your experience shooting on location on this isolated island?
Bengts: It was quite hard for all of us. We stayed at the lighthouse island, which is really in the middle of the sea, for five week. It was hard work, as I told you there are only this lighthouse and the house on this island so there were no places to stay for the crew. We had a small crew, about 30 people. Most of us stayed at the sailing ship you see in the movie, the ship of Gustaf’s dream, but everyone couldn’t fit it, so part of the crew stayed on set. The photographer, and his crew, they lived in tents for five weeks. It was really kind of a special shooting; I have never been through something like that before, and probably won’t again either. Of course since we were in an isolated island there were only snakes and sea birds, and you have only one location that is marvelous, so the story comes even closer to you. It allowed us to get deep into the emotions. We could focus on the story and the development of the characters. We worked in a quite simple way because we had no time to do a storyboard, so when we were shooting a scene, I rehearsed with the actors and we decided how they should move, the photographer was also present, and we discussed together what we were shooting in that scene. It was kind of an unusual way of working but the actors had a lot of freedom. I think you can see that this helped them.
Aguilar: Your film is representing Finland at the Academy Awards this year, is there any pressure on you because of this?
Bengts: To me is only joy. I’m very proud of our movie, and I’m proud that Finland made the decision that this movie should represent the country. I’m hopeful. I don’t feel the pressure at all, if we are shortlisted or get a nomination, is just a bonus. Representing Finland has helped the movie a lot already. When it was official we got quite a lot of invitations from international film festivals. After it was announced that it was the selection, the number of invitations rose 400%.
With The Disciple , her third narrative feature, Finnish director Ulrika Bengts returns to tell another coming-of-age story set in a remote island, but this time with darker undertones. Intriguing and strikingly beautiful the film follows Karl, an orphan who wants to learn the ropes and help in the island's lighthouse. However, the man in charge, Hasselbon, is not fond of the idea. His extreme standards make his own son Gustaf's life miserable, as he doesn't think he has what it takes to become the captain of a ship. Although simple in its conception, the great performances and the atmosphere created by the outstanding soundtrack make for a suspenseful experience. Bengts talked to us about how difficult it was to shoot on the island, her own take on working with actors, and the process to create the film's score.
Read the Review for The Disciple Here
Carlos Aguilar: The music is extremely expressive and evocative in this film; can you talk about the process of finding or composing this music?
Ulrika Bengts: The composer is my husband, Peter Hägerstrand, so we have been working together for about twenty years making other movies together. But this time it was a real challenge because I told him I didn’t want to have any melodies in the music, I wanted it to be disharmonic. Peter made music that didn’t sound melodious at all but it didn’t fit the picture, it was totally wrong. I was obsessed with this idea that it should be industrial in a way. But then one day when we met he said “Ok, in the end I recorded something else that is not for this movie” and then I listened to it and it was going to be the friendship theme between the two guys, and then I went ”Yes, here it is, it should be really a really melodious score based on piano, violin, cello.” So that’s how we made it. And of course the piano scene when Dorrit, the mother plays, was part of the story, and we composed that piece before we started shooting.
Aguilar: How did you work with cast in order to achieve such emotional, yet subdued performances?
Bengts: I was so lucky that we had a week of rehearsals together, just me and the actors. Because the actors didn’t know each other before, they were completely new to each other. We talked a lot about the characters, about their back story, their background, what happened to them before the film starts, and what we thought happens after the film ends. I handled it by talking a lot.
Aguilar: Specifically talking about the young cast, how did you handle the violent sequences with them?
Bengts: I’ve mad a lot of films with young actors and with children, so it is not unfamiliar to me. I think I handle young actors exactly the same way I handle grown up actors, by asking the same questions. Because when we are on the set, they are not children or teenagers, they are actors, and they are working. Basically, when we had that week of rehearsal I wanted to give them some terminology, like the words we use when we are filming.Erik Lönngren, he plays Karl, I had worked with him before on my first feature Iris, which was two years before The Disciple, and he is a very skilled amateur actor. He has been in a lot of amateur stage plays. But Patrik Kumpulainen, the guy playing Gustaf, this was his very first experience, not only in film but also as an actor, he had never acted before. When we were rehearsing he really made me nervous because he used to ask me “Ulrika, what kid of face to you want me to put on in this scene” and I said “Patrick my dear boy, acting is not about putting on faces, you have to understand your character and feel his feelings” and he understood it. It was really cheerful to see the way he developed during this five weeks that we were shooting on the island.
Aguilar: The film seems to be about fathers and sons and about achieving certain expectations. Hasselbond, the patriarch, wants to be in control. Would you agree these are the messages the film tries to convey?
Bengts: I think The Disciple is mainly about control. The father is trying to control everyone, both the living and the dead on the island, he trusts no one, and he is prepared to be betrayed at every moment. I was interested in exploring what happens to people that have to live under such circumstances, where someone else is setting the rules and you have to obey in every situation. To me Karl is the main character because he wants to stay in the island due to his own background of course. For him this is a new opportunity in life and he really wants to be good in Hasselbond’s eyes, even though he understands he is not a good person and that the rules in this island are not sane. This is a very sick kind of micro-society, but he still tries to obey the rules and he goes through moral choices in almost every scene.
Aguilar: Do you think the story worked better by not showing Elof’s story, Gustaf’s older brother who died mysteriously?
Bengts: Yes, I wanted to make it so that the audience could make up their own pictures of how Elof’s life was and what happened t him.
Aguilar: Do you see Hasselbond , the father, as the villain or a product of his isolated environment?
Bengts : Of course I think he is evil because no one has the right to behave the way he behaves, but It think Niklas Groundstroem who played Hasselbond, has some kind of sensitivity and honorability that makes you feel that he is a poor wounded person. I didn’t want to show what happened to him, or why he has become the way he is. Personally, I think that because he has bonded so much with Karl, he had the same experiences as Karl had.
Aguilar: Could you talk about your experience shooting on location on this isolated island?
Bengts: It was quite hard for all of us. We stayed at the lighthouse island, which is really in the middle of the sea, for five week. It was hard work, as I told you there are only this lighthouse and the house on this island so there were no places to stay for the crew. We had a small crew, about 30 people. Most of us stayed at the sailing ship you see in the movie, the ship of Gustaf’s dream, but everyone couldn’t fit it, so part of the crew stayed on set. The photographer, and his crew, they lived in tents for five weeks. It was really kind of a special shooting; I have never been through something like that before, and probably won’t again either. Of course since we were in an isolated island there were only snakes and sea birds, and you have only one location that is marvelous, so the story comes even closer to you. It allowed us to get deep into the emotions. We could focus on the story and the development of the characters. We worked in a quite simple way because we had no time to do a storyboard, so when we were shooting a scene, I rehearsed with the actors and we decided how they should move, the photographer was also present, and we discussed together what we were shooting in that scene. It was kind of an unusual way of working but the actors had a lot of freedom. I think you can see that this helped them.
Aguilar: Your film is representing Finland at the Academy Awards this year, is there any pressure on you because of this?
Bengts: To me is only joy. I’m very proud of our movie, and I’m proud that Finland made the decision that this movie should represent the country. I’m hopeful. I don’t feel the pressure at all, if we are shortlisted or get a nomination, is just a bonus. Representing Finland has helped the movie a lot already. When it was official we got quite a lot of invitations from international film festivals. After it was announced that it was the selection, the number of invitations rose 400%.
- 11/26/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
The Disciple, Finland's Submission for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. U.S. : None Yet. Producer: Långfilm Productions Finland Oy
Human lives are in constant transition, always adapting to ever-changing, unpredictable circumstances. Part of that process often includes replacing things that are no longer useful or no longer exist. Separations, moving to a different city or a different school, and more definitively, death, force individuals to replace the people in their lives in order to fill a void or seeking a second change. That's what Ulrika Bengts' suspenseful drama The Disciple (Lärjungen) explores in an almost-deserted island that serves as a microcosm for her characters to fully expose their need to be in control.
Set in the late 1930s and shot with the simple beauty of a classic painting, from the first frames Bengts wastes no time in showing the quietly dangerous realm the island represents. Hardworking Karl (Erik Lönngren), a thirteen year old boy, has arrived as the only available person to assist the lighthouse keeper with the arduous labor. Displeased by Karl’s age and fragile appearance, Master Hasselbond (Niklas Groundstroem), the veteran lighthouse keeper and defacto ruler, wants to send him back, arguing that whatever he can do, his own teenage boy already does. His son and most faithful follower, Gustaf (Patrik Kumpulainen), is a noble kid who wants nothing else than to please his terribly strict father even if he ridicules him and constantly reminds him that he will never amount to much. Based on the fact that the foreign boy is willing to help him with his mathematic assignments, Gustaf develops a brotherly friendship with Karl, who is diligent and proves himself useful by working around the island. Soon Hasselbond notices Karl’s talents and plans to make him his protégé.
Unafraid to use violence to assert his power and retain control over his family, Hasselbond has banned his wife Dorrit (Amanda Ooms) from playing music and has forbidden the entire family, including his young daughter Emma (Ping Mon H. Wallén), from speaking about the death of their older brother Elof. The oppressor finds in Karl a vessel for his unfulfilled aspirations and strict moral parameters. He wants him to become what neither of his two sons could be in his eyes, which turns Gustaf’s amiable relationship with Karl into hatred. The screenplay by Roland Fauser and Jimmy Karlsson efficiently conveys the story of this man with a pathological obsession with power, and it does so without the need of a religious fanaticism subplot.
The two boys and the maniacal patriarch form a trio in which the roles of teacher and student are symbiotic. Gustaf realizes his father won’t recognize his achievements, while slowly, Karl settles into his role of the devoted son who is willing to follow Hasselbond’s orders blindly. Early in the film, the father struggles to teach Gustaf geometrical concepts related to squares and equilateral triangles, shapes that must have equal sides to be complete. He wants to raise the boys in his image, poisoning them with false righteousness and by that, replacing his late firstborn with Karl to complete his vision of a family, his personal perfect triangle. All three actors in the main roles superbly tackle the emotions of their characters, and play off of each other to make this unsettling family drama stunningly frightening.
Working with a seemingly simple premise, Bengts creates an alluring piece whose haunting musical score by Peter Hägerstrand truly becomes an invisible player in the story. Added to this, the misleading peaceful atmosphere of the isolated location conceals the menacing secrets hidden inside the lighthouse. Here, Bengts' characters form a cult-like community in which their evil leader is only preoccupied with living vicariously through another individual with the purpose of denying his responsibility in the family’s tragic past. Tense and strikingly beautiful The Disciple is a film about legacy, about parents' expectations of their children and the alienating lack of individuality those expectations can impose on them.
Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...
Human lives are in constant transition, always adapting to ever-changing, unpredictable circumstances. Part of that process often includes replacing things that are no longer useful or no longer exist. Separations, moving to a different city or a different school, and more definitively, death, force individuals to replace the people in their lives in order to fill a void or seeking a second change. That's what Ulrika Bengts' suspenseful drama The Disciple (Lärjungen) explores in an almost-deserted island that serves as a microcosm for her characters to fully expose their need to be in control.
Set in the late 1930s and shot with the simple beauty of a classic painting, from the first frames Bengts wastes no time in showing the quietly dangerous realm the island represents. Hardworking Karl (Erik Lönngren), a thirteen year old boy, has arrived as the only available person to assist the lighthouse keeper with the arduous labor. Displeased by Karl’s age and fragile appearance, Master Hasselbond (Niklas Groundstroem), the veteran lighthouse keeper and defacto ruler, wants to send him back, arguing that whatever he can do, his own teenage boy already does. His son and most faithful follower, Gustaf (Patrik Kumpulainen), is a noble kid who wants nothing else than to please his terribly strict father even if he ridicules him and constantly reminds him that he will never amount to much. Based on the fact that the foreign boy is willing to help him with his mathematic assignments, Gustaf develops a brotherly friendship with Karl, who is diligent and proves himself useful by working around the island. Soon Hasselbond notices Karl’s talents and plans to make him his protégé.
Unafraid to use violence to assert his power and retain control over his family, Hasselbond has banned his wife Dorrit (Amanda Ooms) from playing music and has forbidden the entire family, including his young daughter Emma (Ping Mon H. Wallén), from speaking about the death of their older brother Elof. The oppressor finds in Karl a vessel for his unfulfilled aspirations and strict moral parameters. He wants him to become what neither of his two sons could be in his eyes, which turns Gustaf’s amiable relationship with Karl into hatred. The screenplay by Roland Fauser and Jimmy Karlsson efficiently conveys the story of this man with a pathological obsession with power, and it does so without the need of a religious fanaticism subplot.
The two boys and the maniacal patriarch form a trio in which the roles of teacher and student are symbiotic. Gustaf realizes his father won’t recognize his achievements, while slowly, Karl settles into his role of the devoted son who is willing to follow Hasselbond’s orders blindly. Early in the film, the father struggles to teach Gustaf geometrical concepts related to squares and equilateral triangles, shapes that must have equal sides to be complete. He wants to raise the boys in his image, poisoning them with false righteousness and by that, replacing his late firstborn with Karl to complete his vision of a family, his personal perfect triangle. All three actors in the main roles superbly tackle the emotions of their characters, and play off of each other to make this unsettling family drama stunningly frightening.
Working with a seemingly simple premise, Bengts creates an alluring piece whose haunting musical score by Peter Hägerstrand truly becomes an invisible player in the story. Added to this, the misleading peaceful atmosphere of the isolated location conceals the menacing secrets hidden inside the lighthouse. Here, Bengts' characters form a cult-like community in which their evil leader is only preoccupied with living vicariously through another individual with the purpose of denying his responsibility in the family’s tragic past. Tense and strikingly beautiful The Disciple is a film about legacy, about parents' expectations of their children and the alienating lack of individuality those expectations can impose on them.
Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...
- 11/14/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
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