Aalto: Architecture of Emotions
How did one of the most significant modern architects, Alvar Aalto, think and create? The captivating film production delves into the creative processes of the famous Finn, in whose work functionalism intertwines with organic design inspired by nature. The film reveals for the first time the intimate love story of Alvar and his wife, architect Aino Aalto, who was an unmistakable part of their creative duo. Together with the creators, we will visit their iconic buildings scattered around the world – from Alvar's native Finland to Russia, New York, Paris, and Venice...
Directed by: Virpi Suutari
Screenplay: Virpi Suutari, Jussi Rautaniemi
Editing: Jussi Rautaniemi
Cinematography: Heikki Färm, Jani Kumpulainen
Sound: Sanna Salmenkallio
Year of production: 2020
Country: Finland
Language: Finnish with Czech subtitles
Running time: 102 min.
Measure is always the people – and they are as much a part of nature as pine trees or birches. We have all the technical skills, but the challenge is how to humanize them. ALVAR AALTO
Aalto: Architecture of Emotions is a documentary film journey through the life and work of one of the greatest modern architects, Alvar Aalto. The film features the intimate love story between Alvar and his wife, architect Aino Aalto, for the first time. The film takes the audience on a cinematic ride through their iconic buildings around the world, outlining their creative processes. We will visit their most beautiful buildings in Finland, a library in Russia, a dormitory at MIT, a house of a private collector near Paris, and many other unique places. We will learn a great deal about the colorful history of modernism, and along the way, we will meet the Rockefellers, Le Corbusier, and László Moholy-Nagy.
The premature death of Alvar's wife hit him tremendously. Eventually, he remarried another architect, Elissa Aalto, and in the 1950s, he experienced one of his most significant professional periods. This enchanting documentary seamlessly connects entertainment and information, contemporary film material, and rare, previously unpublished archival footage. We will hear the protagonists speak intimately through love letters and see Alvar's sorrowful drawings of his wife on her deathbed. The film is based on thorough data collection, narrated by eyewitnesses and recognized scholars from around the world.
Even then, I subconsciously felt that I was in touch with a special, unpretentious beauty. One could say that Aalto was an architect of sensuality and emotions, perhaps even an erotic architect, whose buildings are not only looked at but also caressed – and they delight the surroundings with their human scale.
After moving away from strict functionalism and developing his own, less constrained, and more organic style, Aalto was able to build his most human-friendly buildings, such as Villa Mairea. It is a private home where he took the experience of the forest and placed it in the middle of the living room. He had a certain “forest wisdom,” no romantic figments of the imagination, but a rational understanding of the coexistence of nature and humanity. I wanted to make a film about Aalto because my childhood experience of Aalto's spaces formed my ideas about aesthetic harmony and good architecture. I also realized that no one had yet made a comprehensive film about the Aaltos.
I began to dream of a film that would be about beauty, but also about damaged humanity, playfulness, and charm.
I wanted to get to know Alvar Aalto as a person and the character of his two wives – architects Aino and Elissa Aalto. I wanted to know how they worked and what they achieved. How they loved each other and how they created together. How they founded Aalto's style and the design furniture business Artek, a symbol of a fulfilled dream. The Aalto family allowed me to read his correspondence, which, along with a number of interviews, helped me understand Aalto's personality.
The film has several narrators because the life work of Alvar Aalto is so rich and expansive that I needed to find different experts and facts to support each aspect of his life. All interpretations and claims made in the film can be verified from several different sources. Recordings of interviews conducted by Göran Schildt for Aalto's biography provided us with valuable testimonies from people who truly knew Aalto personally and were there when it all happened. The Aalto family, in addition to the correspondence, allowed us to use some nearly unknown photos from trips to America and a few of Alvar's drawings that had not yet been published, including pictures of Aino shortly before her death.
The Aaltos were remarkably international, which is why the film features seven different languages and was shot in seven different countries. When we were collecting facts, we had to search the archives around the world. In addition to Finnish archives, we used the archives of various individuals and institutions, including the Rockefellers, MIT, the United Nations, British Pathé, and Moholy-Nagy.
Remarkably, editor Jussi Rautaniemi is credited as the second screenwriter of the film Aalto. One of the characteristics of documentary films is that the final atmosphere is often created on the editing table. The amount of video and audio material in this film also required the editor to pay special attention to the dramatic structure. In connection with historical figures and lifeless buildings, it was a great challenge for us to create a living and pulsating film. Together with sound engineer Olli Huhtanen, we worked hard to make the story of the Aaltos dynamic and impactful. In the end, the sound engineer played an exceptionally large part here. The music and improvisation by composer Sanna Salmenkallio, along with several well-known Finnish jazz musicians, became the foundation from which the sound engineer wove a modernist and organic sound tapestry. The sound landscape of this film was created in a playful atmosphere, which is a natural part of Aalto's philosophy. The raw sound material for this film was created, for example, by strumming a bow on Aalto's vase and clattering building materials such as bricks, marble, and copper.
The letters of Alvar and Aino were read by excellent Finnish actors Martti Suosalo and Pirkko Hämäläinen. Both were amazed by the modern spirit of the correspondence present even in the 1920s. The progressiveness of the ideas not only pertained to architecture but also to personal relationships: equal and respectful collegial relationships, free sexuality, and collaboration with other well-known international artists.
“The letters convey an image of Alvar Aalto that is playful, charming, and loving, but he also feels guilty for overshadowing Aino, no matter how talented she is. Until the very end, Alvar dreamed of returning to a mutual creative space with Aino, similar to the one they shared at the beginning of their creative journeys when they were developing the foundations of Aalto's language,” says Martti Suosalo.
Born in 1967, she lives and works in Helsinki as a filmmaker and producer. She is a member of the European Film Academy and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Lapland. An award-winning filmmaker, she is known for her personal filmographic style and emotional storytelling. Her films have been screened worldwide. The film Idle Ones (2002) was nominated for Best European Documentary (EFA). Suutari has won several Best Nordic Documentary awards. Her latest film, Entrepreneurs, was selected for the Masters program at IDFA 2018. Virpi has won the national Jussi Award (Finnish Oscar) three times. She collaborates with the best film professionals, including editor Jussi Rautaniemi, who has edited internationally acclaimed films such as The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (Un certain regard – Cannes 2016).
Directed by: Virpi Suutari
Screenplay: Virpi Suutari, Jussi Rautaniemi
Editing: Jussi Rautaniemi
Cinematography: Heikki Färm, Jani Kumpulainen
Sound: Sanna Salmenkallio
Year of production: 2020
Country: Finland
Language: Finnish with Czech subtitles
Running time: 102 min.
Measure is always the people – and they are as much a part of nature as pine trees or birches. We have all the technical skills, but the challenge is how to humanize them. ALVAR AALTO
Aalto: Architecture of Emotions is a documentary film journey through the life and work of one of the greatest modern architects, Alvar Aalto. The film features the intimate love story between Alvar and his wife, architect Aino Aalto, for the first time. The film takes the audience on a cinematic ride through their iconic buildings around the world, outlining their creative processes. We will visit their most beautiful buildings in Finland, a library in Russia, a dormitory at MIT, a house of a private collector near Paris, and many other unique places. We will learn a great deal about the colorful history of modernism, and along the way, we will meet the Rockefellers, Le Corbusier, and László Moholy-Nagy.
The premature death of Alvar's wife hit him tremendously. Eventually, he remarried another architect, Elissa Aalto, and in the 1950s, he experienced one of his most significant professional periods. This enchanting documentary seamlessly connects entertainment and information, contemporary film material, and rare, previously unpublished archival footage. We will hear the protagonists speak intimately through love letters and see Alvar's sorrowful drawings of his wife on her deathbed. The film is based on thorough data collection, narrated by eyewitnesses and recognized scholars from around the world.
Director's Note
The film about Aalto has been maturing in my mind for years. His library, built in 1965 in my hometown of Rovaniemi, became my afternoon refuge in childhood. In the 1970s, I trudged there after school through the frost or snowstorm. I was drawn there for the books, but I was also fascinated by the surrounding environment. I still remember the touch of my palm on the twisted copper handle of the entrance door and the transition into a warm, welcoming space. I recall how much I enjoyed running my fingers along the wall of ribbed ceramic tiles. Aalto's leather sofas and copper lamps felt luxurious. I felt like a rich person, even though I came from modest means. The library was democratically for everyone, even for me.Even then, I subconsciously felt that I was in touch with a special, unpretentious beauty. One could say that Aalto was an architect of sensuality and emotions, perhaps even an erotic architect, whose buildings are not only looked at but also caressed – and they delight the surroundings with their human scale.
After moving away from strict functionalism and developing his own, less constrained, and more organic style, Aalto was able to build his most human-friendly buildings, such as Villa Mairea. It is a private home where he took the experience of the forest and placed it in the middle of the living room. He had a certain “forest wisdom,” no romantic figments of the imagination, but a rational understanding of the coexistence of nature and humanity. I wanted to make a film about Aalto because my childhood experience of Aalto's spaces formed my ideas about aesthetic harmony and good architecture. I also realized that no one had yet made a comprehensive film about the Aaltos.
I began to dream of a film that would be about beauty, but also about damaged humanity, playfulness, and charm.
I wanted to get to know Alvar Aalto as a person and the character of his two wives – architects Aino and Elissa Aalto. I wanted to know how they worked and what they achieved. How they loved each other and how they created together. How they founded Aalto's style and the design furniture business Artek, a symbol of a fulfilled dream. The Aalto family allowed me to read his correspondence, which, along with a number of interviews, helped me understand Aalto's personality.
The film has several narrators because the life work of Alvar Aalto is so rich and expansive that I needed to find different experts and facts to support each aspect of his life. All interpretations and claims made in the film can be verified from several different sources. Recordings of interviews conducted by Göran Schildt for Aalto's biography provided us with valuable testimonies from people who truly knew Aalto personally and were there when it all happened. The Aalto family, in addition to the correspondence, allowed us to use some nearly unknown photos from trips to America and a few of Alvar's drawings that had not yet been published, including pictures of Aino shortly before her death.
The Aaltos were remarkably international, which is why the film features seven different languages and was shot in seven different countries. When we were collecting facts, we had to search the archives around the world. In addition to Finnish archives, we used the archives of various individuals and institutions, including the Rockefellers, MIT, the United Nations, British Pathé, and Moholy-Nagy.
Remarkably, editor Jussi Rautaniemi is credited as the second screenwriter of the film Aalto. One of the characteristics of documentary films is that the final atmosphere is often created on the editing table. The amount of video and audio material in this film also required the editor to pay special attention to the dramatic structure. In connection with historical figures and lifeless buildings, it was a great challenge for us to create a living and pulsating film. Together with sound engineer Olli Huhtanen, we worked hard to make the story of the Aaltos dynamic and impactful. In the end, the sound engineer played an exceptionally large part here. The music and improvisation by composer Sanna Salmenkallio, along with several well-known Finnish jazz musicians, became the foundation from which the sound engineer wove a modernist and organic sound tapestry. The sound landscape of this film was created in a playful atmosphere, which is a natural part of Aalto's philosophy. The raw sound material for this film was created, for example, by strumming a bow on Aalto's vase and clattering building materials such as bricks, marble, and copper.
The letters of Alvar and Aino were read by excellent Finnish actors Martti Suosalo and Pirkko Hämäläinen. Both were amazed by the modern spirit of the correspondence present even in the 1920s. The progressiveness of the ideas not only pertained to architecture but also to personal relationships: equal and respectful collegial relationships, free sexuality, and collaboration with other well-known international artists.
“The letters convey an image of Alvar Aalto that is playful, charming, and loving, but he also feels guilty for overshadowing Aino, no matter how talented she is. Until the very end, Alvar dreamed of returning to a mutual creative space with Aino, similar to the one they shared at the beginning of their creative journeys when they were developing the foundations of Aalto's language,” says Martti Suosalo.
About the Director
Virpi SuutariBorn in 1967, she lives and works in Helsinki as a filmmaker and producer. She is a member of the European Film Academy and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Lapland. An award-winning filmmaker, she is known for her personal filmographic style and emotional storytelling. Her films have been screened worldwide. The film Idle Ones (2002) was nominated for Best European Documentary (EFA). Suutari has won several Best Nordic Documentary awards. Her latest film, Entrepreneurs, was selected for the Masters program at IDFA 2018. Virpi has won the national Jussi Award (Finnish Oscar) three times. She collaborates with the best film professionals, including editor Jussi Rautaniemi, who has edited internationally acclaimed films such as The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (Un certain regard – Cannes 2016).
The English translation is powered by AI tool. Switch to Czech to view the original text source.
0 comments
add comment
