DIRECTOR Priit Pääsuke

Magic in the Night

Aurelia Aasa sat down with Priit Pääsuke to discuss his new youth comedy Kids of the Night which premieres in Estonia this summer.

By Maria Ulfsak Photo by Virge Viertek

When his debut feature The End of the Chain premiered in Karlovy Vary, director Priit Pääsuke took us to a burger joint. This time we pass through several nighttime hotspots – from a gas station to a techno club. At the centre of his new film Kids of the Night are three sisters whose lives take unexpected turns in the course of one night. The film will have a domestic premiere in July 2021.

Kids of the Night has three sisters in the lead, personifying different stages in life. A rebellious teen, a young lady about to start University, and a workaholic older sister who is in love with her boss.

The film could indeed be interpreted as a story of one woman at various stages in her life, although it is not directly pointed out in the film. In my eyes, this is a universal story where gender is not even that important. All the protagonists are at a crossroads where they have to make a crucial decision. And this decision is furthermore complicated by peer pressure that amplifies the confusion and contradiction of their inner wishes.

The film is written by Ewert Kiwi and Mart Raun. How did it reach you? The producer Marianne Ostrat was looking for someone to direct Kids of the Night several years ago already but then we started making my first feature End of the Chain, and Kids of the Night was shelved for a while. Youth comedy scripts are pretty scarce in Estonia and elsewhere. I’ve always wanted to make a youth film. The story had some unique freshness to it and it seemed to have good energy. When End of the Chain had premiered, I made a proposal to Marianne to direct Kids of the Night next, and we were off.

Comedy is not the most common of genres in Nordic countries and many directors rather avoid directing them. Both of your features are leaning towards comedy, especially Kids of the Night. What do you find appealing in this genre? For me, it’s quite the opposite. At festivals, I watch comedies first. I wouldn’t say that everything has been

Kids of the Night has three sisters in the lead. Liis (Grete Konksi, above) has just graduated from high school, the eldest sister Karin (Piret Krumm, on the right) is trying to find her way in the business world and teenage Jane (Alice Siil) is still searching for herself. done in the world of drama, but it feels like the Golden Age of this genre has passed for real. As we rely on antique Greek dramas today still, it has been said that the textbooks for making comedies from that time have maybe been lost. Seems that the socalled Modern comedy arrived many Centuries later – with Shakespeare, Molière, and others. Quoting a legend: comedy is drama’s drama. Comedy goes beyond drama and, in some way, hurts more. Right now, comedy seems to have a much wider range of possibilities. It’s been done less and presents more challenges, which makes it more interesting to direct.

What is the most difficult aspect of directing a comedy? For me, an important characteristic of a comedy is the scale of exaggeration and how far do you dare to push the limits, go overboard. Wellknown comedies from the history of cinema go over the top that it’s sometimes embarrassingto watch. While directing, you have to consider how far you (and the actors) are willing to push it, and how much the material allows it to do so.

End of the Chain and Kids of the Night both happen at night, be it in an empty burger joint, or a roadside gas station. Do you find the night fascinating for some reason, or is it coincidental? I cannot comment on my subconscious choices, so I’d

stick with coincidence. True, the night is magic, situations seem different and there’s more room to play. It’s harder to film at night, but aesthetically you also get more in return. The nocturnal world is more intriguing to create, because you can mould the environment better with the use of lighting. Daytime offers fewer options creatively, and the primary task is to equalize instead. All in all, the Kids of the Night set had great energy at night – young people stay easily awake and contribute more. I believe that this energy shows later in the film.

Director Priit Pääsuke working on the set of Kids of the Night.

How much did you change the script on the set? Most of the changes were made before the shooting period, and also in rehearsals.. I’d rather not make big changes in the script on set, because there are a hundred other things to keep in mind, and that can cost highly later, in editing. On the other hand, comedy relies more on the actors. You need to trust them, and I like to give talented actors a change to improvise in certain situations. In Kids of the Night, many supporting characters are born this way, and it gives more nuance to them in ways that couldn’t be put down on paper.

During the shoot of End of the Chain, a random customer came to the film set, a burger joint built especially for the occasion. What happened on the set of Kids of the Night? Animals always present a bigger challenge. When we filmed in the gas station, a family of martens with little kits had made their home there. Marten kits are crazy daredevils and they moved around the gas station quite freely. We had to shoot a scene with a hunting dog there. At night, when the martens had already become accustomed to the crew, they appeared and the situation was quite tense, because the dog’s hunting instincts kicked in. We understood that we have 1Ω2 takes left at most, because we couldn’t keep the dog still any longer, not with sausage or anything else. His hunting instinct was impossible to contain.

One other time, we had to film a horse on a car bridge. The long night suddenly became morning, rush hour, and commuters were waiting in their vehicles in a long queue on both sides of the bridge; that has a horse without a saddle, and carrying two young actors without any prior horseriding experience. The horse was scared of the cars, crew and the light that blinded his eyes.

There are several debutantes in the film. How did you pick the cast? Firsttimers are interesting to work with, because at

least some of them are not afraid to make mistakes. They take it more like a journey, a quest. In that sense, they are easier to work with. They might make more mistakes than the professionals, but it seems to me that their nerves are steadier in front of the camera. The more experience you have, the more creative responsibility you carry. People doing something for the first time, regard it a learning process and feel freer. We were looking exactly for that strong nerve in screen tests.

It is a women’s story. Were there many women in the crew? When the protagonists are female, it is more helpful to work with female crew members. On the other hand, gender is not important to me while working, and I don’t think about it at all. Everyone asks the same big questions. Obviously, some problems may differ in case of men or women, but existential worries are the same for everyone. And it goes for the film as well: it may be a story about women, but anyone can connect to it, regardless of their gender.

You are listed as both the director and editor of Kids of the Night. How did you manage to connect the two roles? Actually, I always have other editors and consultants helping me. Alone, you have more freedom, but when filling different positions, you often have to recalibrate from detail to whole, and back. It’s good to have a second opinion on the side.

Doing things by yourself, you need to complete all the levels on your own, and it takes time in my case. Ideally, you would already have forgotten shot material in the editing room altogether and start to assemble the new whole from scratch. I like searching for the editing language that is suitable for the material by myself. It’s a little bit like painting. But I need the help of my colleagues in all other matters.

The events of the film take place during one fateful night that reveals all secrets and feelings the three sisters never wanted to admit. I have a feeling that you weave both European indie-film traditions and aspects of an audience film into your film language. How much do you consider the potential audience when making a film? Making a film is a big endeavour, it is teamwork, and I wouldn’t want to make it solely for myself. Actually, you never know what the audience really expects. You try to follow your inner compass. The director, behind the camera, together with the cinematographer, is the first audience. When you are able to reflect the events back to the actors in a way that they understand, you may have the potential to succeed. EF