“Life is not black and white”: Mika Gustafson and Alexander Öhrstrand discuss debut drama ‘Paradise Is Burning’
Mika Gustafson has delivered her feature debut, Paradise Is Burning, a drama set in Sweden focusing on the themes of childhood, womanhood and sisterhood. Written in partnership with Alexander Öhrstrand, Paradise Is Burning tells of a trio of young sisters who are faced with the complexities of surviving the trials and tribulations of everyday life when their mother suddenly abandons them.
With Bianca Delbravo (Laura), Dilvin Asaad (Mira) and Safira Mossberg (Steffi) comprising the main cast, Paradise Is Burning is brimming with young acting talent. It’s a film that is at once an exploration of what it means to grow up in an age that can sometimes hastily demand maturity, a moving portrait of the importance of family, and a raucous comedy-drama that toys with the commonly accepted facets of femininity.
When speaking with Far Out recently, Gustafson and Öhrstrand pointed out what had inspired them to make their debut and what they hoped audiences would gain from the experience of watching it. Gustafson said that she had wanted to make a film about “complex female characters”, having seen so many movies about boys. Interestingly, the pair asked themselves frequently throughout the writing process whether a given scene could turn out the same if the characters were all boys, and for the most part, the answer always turned out to be “yes”.
“I really don’t think they are typical female characters,” Gustafson said before explaining how she and Öhrstrand had auditioned both boys and girls for the different minor character roles. “We’re like, ‘Yes, it doesn’t matter,'” Öhrstrand added, though Gustafson admitted that the film invariably explores “sisterhood, womanhood and motherhood”. An important figure in the life of the eldest sibling, Laura, is Hannah, an older woman she suddenly meets and begins an intriguing relationship with.
Though Laura is naturally caught up with trying to help her young sisters get through the tricky period in their lives, Hannah represents a “chance to breathe”, according to Gustafson, and an opportunity to “escape reality for a second”. Still, how she is perceived is “totally up to the audience”, though there are certainly shades of either having her fulfil a motherly role or as an exploration of Laura’s sexuality.
It’s that ambiguity that Gustafson and Öhrstrand are keen to explore, with the former explaining, “Life is not black and white, you know, it’s more that relationships are complicated. That was something we aimed for while writing. We’re thinking, ‘How do you write a script that feels true, and how do you write a script that creates characters that feel alive?'” Undoubtedly, the characters of Paradise is Burning are brimming with reality, authenticity and vitality.
In terms of a male presence, there is only one character in the shape of the vulnerable-seeming Sasha, whose arc sees him develop a loving relationship with middle child Mira, who helps him nervously prepare for a karaoke romance. Gustafson and Öhrstrand are adamant about Sasha not being “representative of all masculinity“, but note that he is still an essential part of the movie overall.
“I think the film is both about gender and not about gender at all,” Gustafson said. “And I hope that’s a kind of queer quality to the film. I sometimes feel like Sasha. I practised directing this film for 15 years. I really trained for this, but I almost felt like Sasha going up on stage and trying to sing the song, thinking, ‘Do I believe in myself?'”
Öhrstrand had been keen to resist a didactic outlook for Paradise Is Burning, while Gustafson had equally been more interested in “what it is to be a human being” than any sort of “moral ought”.
Öhrstrand explained, “The duality of life is that you want to grow up fast at the same time as wanting to cling on to childhood. All of them want to grow up. Laura wants to grow up. Mira wants to, but at the same time, all they want to do is stick together.” We all want to be big kids.
Gustafson pointed out the fact that Laura, Mira and Steffi are all in transitional periods in their respective lives. “Steffi is going from being a child, Mira is going into teenage life, and Laura is becoming a woman,” she said. Ultimately, though the new director believes that Paradise Is Burning is not just a “film for girls” and hopes it will be “fun for the audience” regardless of their background.
Paradise Is Burning is in UK and Irish cinemas from August 30th.
