'I like to say that as long as there’s a laugh, there is hope'

Elina Knihtilä and Pirjo Lonka in 100 Litres Of Gold. Teemu Nikki: 'It's not that easy a role for them because they have to be very gross and funny but also lovable and realistic' Photo: Courtesy of POFF

Teemu Nikki’s latest film 100 Litres Of Gold tells the story of two sisters (played by Elina Knihtilä and Pirjo Lonka) who are known for brewing some of the best Finnish sahti - a sort of homebrew ale - in the district. They are also known for their ability to down large quantities of it, a pursuit that stems at least partially from guilt over the fact that they were involved in a car crash during which their other sister Päivi (Ria Kataja) lost a leg. They plan to make a special batch for Päivi’s upcoming wedding, but when their own addiction gets the better of them, they find themselves on a quest to find a replacement.

Drawing on Western tropes - including a long-running feud - Nikki continues to demonstrate his ability to mix darker themes with comedy.

We caught up with the Finnish director shortly after his film - which had its world premiere at Rome Film Festival - played in the Official Selection competition at Tallinn Black Nights, and when it comes to sahti, Nikkir is deadly serious.

“My family has been making it for generations and I have made it myself two times - and one time it was good and one time it was bad. But my brother makes it and my father used to make it so we are very proud of this,” he says.

The setting for the film is also close to home, since it's set in the village of Sysmä, where he grew up.

Teemu Nikki: 'I try to challenge myself, to rethink how films are made' Photo: Courtesy of POFF

“I am a bit famous there in this little village,” he admits. “Everybody was super-helpful and some of the scenes were shot in my childhood house and my childhood friends were in the background and I've been drinking in the bar which is there many times. So everybody was very helpful and everybody was very happy that I'm making a film about sahti because we are very proud of that.”

Nikki, whose previous films include Euthanizer and The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic, has previously spoken to us about how he often writes films with actors in mind. He says the same was true of this film.

“I saw Elina Knihtilä and Pirjo Lonka play together in a theatre play and I realised that I wanted to work with them. Of course, I’d worked with Elina many times but never with Pirjo, so I wrote it for them. I need to have some kind of face for the characters. And also, I guess there's the kind of trust that you know that they can deliver this kind of role, because it's not that easy a role for them because they have to be very gross and funny but also lovable and realistic.”

Nikki says that getting the actors on board from the start also helps to guarantee the progress of the film.

He explains: “I say, ‘Okay, I have this kind of film in mind and I would like to have you as one of the lead characters’. I want to say it because if they would say, ‘Okay, I'm not sure if I want to do that’. I don't write the film because I want to make sure that they want to do the film with me before I start to spend half a year writing it. And when I have the first draft, I will immediately read it with them to hear them say the lines and get feedback.”

It’s been an incredibly busy few years for Nikki, this year he has also made action comedy Death Is Not A Problem For The Living, children’s adventure Snot And Splash and short film Tuulikki. He also co-wrote TV drama Mental and has a seven-episode Army drama in the works, which he says is “something completely different again and I’m very excited to see how it goes”.

“I've been busy and I've been lucky that we could finance all the films and, what can I say, I like to make films. So if I have the possibility I will do it,” he says, adding: “We have one short film coming next year and also a couple of features are in the pre-production, or in financing state.”

Teemu Nikki: 'For me, it's more important to believe what you see than to laugh at what you see' Photo: Courtesy of POFF

Explaining the wide variety of his work, Nikki says: “For me, it's very simple. I don't want to make the same film again because I want to learn how to make better films. So I try to challenge myself, to rethink how films are made. Three-star films are very boring because they always think that this is how a film should be made. But to make a five-star film, you have to take a lot of chances and you have to go there and take risks. That means that it might become a one-star film. I’m worried about the three stars!

“I try different kinds of feelings and different kinds of atmospheres and subjects and so on. And this time I felt like doing this sahti Western without death.

“I like spaghetti westerns like The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - but I'm not that big a fan of Westerns. It's not my favorite genre. But, for me, when I went to Sysmä with the cinematographer Jarmo Kiuru and we were looking at the scenery, it looked like a western town. They don't have horses, they have Mercedes-Benz. This is my romantic version of my hometown, like I remember it from living there for 30 years ago. So I guess the Western came from there. Also they are hunting the sahti and it's like in every Western you are trying to rob a bank and you are trying to find the gold.”

He adds: “For me, it's more important to believe what you see than to laugh at what you see. And, you know, the world is funny. Realistic things are very funny. So for me, If there's a funny line, you can't say it in a funny way, but you have to say it in a way that is true and then, for me, it becomes funny. I always see the funny side of things in everything. I like to say that as long as there’s a laugh, there is hope. So to look at dark subjects in a funny way or in a way that there's some kind of humour means for me that humankind still has some kind of hope.”

100 Litres Of Gold will be released in Finnish cinemas next March.