Stories that draw on memories of long summer days where you have nothing in particular to do, except to cruise around on your bike with friends. Stories of total freedom that never get old. It's this kind of cinematic idealism that still makes me happy today.
That's something I found in Margus Paju's film Supilinna salaselts (The Secret Society of Souptown). Originally released in 2015, it's a family movie based on the books of Finnish-Estonian author Mika Keränen.
In the year of its release, the film won the Audience Award for Best Children's Film at Zurich Film Festival and was nominated for the Estonian Film Award at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Director Margus Paju is also known for his 2020 historical spy thriller O2 and his crime comedy short Kaastundeavaldus (My Condolences).
In this film, there are some cast crossovers from previous films of his, and Paju's knack for action is ever-present, though it's adjusted to family audiences.
The story begins with a young girl, Mari (played by Olivia Viikant), and her friends attending a neighbourhood party in Tartu's Supilinn. Together with her friends Sadu (Arabella Antons), Olav (Hugo Soosaar), and Anton (Karl Jakob Vibur), they seek out adventure and a way to stand up against their bullies in the form of a new club they call the Supilinna Salaselts.
It doesn't take long for their club to be put to the test. The party is a wholesome event, with lively music (including a performance by Svjata Vatra), a dramatic ballet performance, and punch. But then the punch is spiked with a potion by a sinister masked character.
… all the adults who drank the punch enter an altered psychological state where they act and think like children. Even the mayor ends up playing with paper boats in a puddle. It's mayhem.
We are left to wonder where this villain came from. However, the effects of the potion soon become apparent — all the adults who drank the punch enter an altered psychological state where they act and think like children. Even the mayor ends up playing with paper boats in a puddle. It's mayhem.
While this outbreak develops, Mari's grandfather (charmingly played by the late Tiit Lilleorg) realizes that what's happening may have to do with something his own father told him about as a little boy. Upon paying a visit to her grandfather, Mari finds that he has been attacked by the perpetrator of the punch incident. Before he slips into the childlike curse, he gives her an old notebook and tells her what has happened. Mari and her friends must strike up the courage to find the antidote to the potion within 48 hours, to save the adults of Tartu.
High stakes and obstacles are set up early in the movie. The kids who bully Mari and her three friends are given a strong position as antagonists when the lead bully, Leo, is coerced by the masked figure into locating Mari's grandfather's notebook, which has information on the antidote. Mari's mother and father, who didn't end up drinking the punch, don't believe in the curse and try to stop her and her friend's mission.
And with very believable, funny, and sincere performances from the talented young actresses and actors in this movie, viewers will be genuinely concerned about the fate of the protagonists.
There is good pacing in the way action is packed into the story, as the characters tour through many different locations in Tartu. The kids sneak into an archive to find answers and solutions about who made the poison and where the antidote can be found. They go up the clock tower of Tartu's town hall. They enter a foggy graveyard to open up a dusty old tomb. Some scenes are reminiscent of nostalgic moments from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade or John Bellairs' book, The House with a Clock in Its Walls. But even with lots of action, the storytelling is never dizzying or unfocused.
The kids are heroes, and the parents are unable to do much to get in their way… Which is highly convenient for the storyline!
Rather, we are there with the characters on this desperate mission, screeching around on a bike, with Tartu, in all its summer glory, zipping past us. The kids are heroes, and the parents are unable to do much to get in their way… Which is highly convenient for the storyline!
There's a dash of absurd humour based around the personalities of adults; namely, a scene when Sadu's parents are playing and the dad (portrayed by Kaido Höövelson) tries to eat a ball. Overall, the kids know what's going on more than anyone else in the film.
Thankfully, it's a story that relies most of all on its story and character development, which gives purpose to costumes, art direction, and special effects. The film's visuals are also energized with mood-building music that includes marimba, oboe, flute, strings, horns, and a closing song by Silver Sepp and Curly Strings.
