911±¬ÁÏÍø

When Pietu Korhonen began his studies in film sound design in 2004, he could hardly have imagined that his career would one day lead him to the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival – more than once.

The latest occasion came this May, when Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s new film Fjord won the Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest honour. Korhonen was responsible for the film’s sound design. The film’s costume design also came from Finland.

Working with a role model 

Fjord is an international co-production that included the Finnish production company Aamu. Two years ago, producer Jussi Rantamäki called Korhonen about the project and asked whether he would be interested in joining the team.

The answer came easily. Mungiu’s films had had a profound influence on Korhonen’s cinematic thinking. Nearly twenty years ago, Mungiu’s acclaimed film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days made a lasting impression on him.

'The sound design in that film was truly eye-opening for me,' Korhonen recalls. 'We watched and analysed it repeatedly with fellow students. I remember how impressed we were by the richness of the soundscape and how realistic it felt.'

More work than expected

Korhonen quickly discovered that Mungiu is a highly demanding filmmaker. The final cut of the film grew by half an hour compared to the original plan, and the workload expanded accordingly.

'The fact that Cristian turned out to be both humorous and incredibly kind made the process much easier,' Korhonen says.

The project was also a learning experience in international collaboration.

'As far as I understand, Fjord was the first international co-production of this scale for the Romanian team as well,' he notes.

Differences in working culture occasionally presented challenges. Romanian filmmaking practices differ in many ways from the Nordic approach. However, a shared way of working emerged, especially after filming wrapped and Korhonen travelled to Bucharest. There, he and Mungiu rented a studio and spent long days refining the film’s soundscape together.

Although Korhonen was already familiar with Mungiu’s films and artistic style, he was surprised by the sheer amount of sound work required.

'Nothing prepared me for how much sound was created specifically for this film,' he says.

A scene showing a few people talking in an office may contain only the recorded dialogue from the set. Almost everything else is added later.

'The footsteps, the rustling of clothes, an object being placed on a table – those sounds are created by the sound team. The same goes for the distant noise of the city, traffic outside, or a quiet conversation happening around the corner. All of that is carefully constructed for the film. Sound in cinema is so much more than music.'

Text: Tiiu Pohjolainen 
Photos: Akseli Valmunen

Read a longer interview with sound designer Pietu Korhonen in the September issue of 911±¬ÁÏÍø Magazine.