Cleaning Up!
In the words of the director:
The tour started in the February of 2000 and lasted a whole month. I went along alone, without a film crew. I decided to shoot, direct and record the movie myself. The reasons for this were lack of time and money and, most of all, the subject of the movie itself, which made it possible to use hand-held camera and special close-ups. To get the best possible sound quality, I had to be very close to the people I was filming. But this was in no way in conflict with the contents. This way I was able to be, in effect, one of the band-members.
I wasn’t burdened with a film crew, in a sense that having one would have made a clear distinction between those filming and those being filmed. A film crew would have been a burden also because the back of a bus and the backstage of a club can only hold so many people. I travelled the whole tour with the boys with a backpack, a shoulder bag hanging on each side of my neck and a camera in my right hand. The raw film material amounted up to about 40 hours.
Although this was a road documentary, I had to constantly think of the dramatic aspects as well. At which point of the tour would I try to get the boys to talk about their dreams, their relationship with stardom or about what friendship means to them? Fortunately the stars of my movie were ready to throw themselves into this project and tried to forget the camera. This was extremely brave of them and an immense token of trust towards me, the director. They knew what dangers lie in revealing yourself to the camera, but they also knew that the end result could be something unique.
The editing part was the hardest. There were about 12 hours worth of complete scenes, not including the gigs, which amounted up to about 10 hours. How is it possible to edit that vast amount of raw material into a movie of under half an hour?
The movie was edited in periods varying in length from the June of 2000 until the September of 2001. Unlike when filming, I had many people assisting me in the editing; two principal editors, two assisting editors, transcriber, two editing trainees and a huge screening audience. The first edited version was about 7 hours long. The final cut is 1 hour 17 minutes long.
I had decided already early in editing that I wouldn’t change the natural progression of the tour, because that would be wrong towards the band and the reality. I tried to be faithful to the real events, but, at the same time, I tried to find the elements within the scenes that would best further the flow of the movie. The movie doesn’t end in the American way, in a mega concert where Cleaning Women rises towards stardom. That didn’t happen in reality and also doesn’t in my movie. My movie is more about friendship and courage; what it means to do the things that are really important to you and what makes you happy. My movie is also about the will not make any compromises in your art. These three young men with whom I travelled through half of Europe taught me a lot. I believe that these experiences are also conveyed to the audience.
My movie would be nothing without the wonderful stars. I would really like to thank the members of Cleaning Women: Risto Puurunen, Timo Kinnunen, Tero Vänttinen and the sound engineer Teemu Kotila. Timo Kinnunen also did a superb job with the sounds in the post production of this movie, and a special thanks to him for that. I owe thanks also to Mikko Keinonen, who was the manager of the band at the time. He came to me with the idea of this movie and arranged this magnificent East European tour. He worked really hard trying to organize this tour and pulling it through in a truly honourable fashion.. A special thanks also to the producer of this movie, Henrik Niinimäki. He offered me immense support all through the process of making this movie. Despite almost nonexistent resources we managed to wade through this soggy swamp and arrive on the other side wet, but happy. Besides being the producer, Henrik is a very good friend of mine and I definitely would like to continue making movies with him.
Rostislav Aalto
This movie is about the East European tour of Cleaning Women, a trio that has already achieved a cult status amongst its followers. In the early spring of 2000 the director, Rostislav Aalto, tagged along on the four-week shoestring budget tour across Estonia, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. With his camera he captured the life on stage, on backstage and on the road, heading towards the next gig.
Cleaning Women is without a doubt one the most original phenomenon in the Finnish rock scene, and definitely deserves its own movie. The trio in their women’s suits and glamour make-up, playing instruments built from drying racks, conjures up a show that is truly one of a kind. In their own down-to-earth way this trio zigzags around Eastern Europe leaving confusion and excitement in its wake. Underneath their strong stage image we find three sympathetic country boys doing what is most important for them, in earnest, but not taking it too seriously.
The result is a no-nonsense road movie filled with uncompromising art making, dedication to music and show, but also with heart-warming camaraderie and to-the-point observations of the surrounding world. This movie will not leave anyone cold. Not even those to whom Cleaning Women is still a weird newcomer from another planet.
Cleaning Up! received production grants from AVEK and YLE channel 1.
Written, directed and filmed by Rostislav Aalto.
Editing: Rostislav Aalto and Kimmo Kohtamäki.
Editing assistant: Jari Järvi.
Sound: Timo Kinnunen.
Music: Cleaning Women.
Producer: Henrik Niinimäki.
Production by Zen Media and Cube Film.
Details of the film:
Duration: 1 hour 16 minutes 29 seconds
Format: PAL (NTSC option), Digibeta, beta or dvcam
Film copy 2002
Picture: 16:9, anamorphous
Marketing material: available posters, still pictures, news articles, press info etc.