Punishment is a Norwegian documentary that follows four inmates on maximum security have chosen to enter a three-week Jesuit silent retreat in prison. They are guided by two priests. The film slowly observes this paradoxical situation, while looking beyond the question of religious belief: How does ethical exercises, rituals and communal silence affect us? The setting evolves into a prism for gauging a portrait of the existential landscape of the convicted.
With the documentary making it’s global premiere this week at the Slamdance Film Festival, Nick L’Barrow spoke with the documentary’s director, Oystein Mamen to discuss the reasoning why he presents this film in black and white, and the power of silence in filmmaking.
Nick: It’s a pleasure to meet you Oystein! I’m excited to chat with you about the documentary today, which if I’m getting my time zones correct is premiering at Slamdance Film Festival tonight?
Oystein Mamen: Tomorrow night!
Nick: Fantastic! How are you feeling going into the premiere?
Oystein Mamen: Yeah, I’m not actually… not so nervous. But I’m looking forward to the audience seeing it and see how they perceive it.
Nick: I was genuinely moved by this documentary. I think it’s brilliant, and one of the things that I was curious to find out about while I was watching it was the choice to present the film in black and white. At what point in the process did you decide that black and white was the way you wanted to present this story?
Oystein Mamen: Yeah, that’s interesting. It was very late [in the process], but it was before we started filming. I mean, I worked as a cinematographer for many years, and I shot this myself. I tried to make a look which [emulates] what I’m going to end up with [in the shot], and sometimes when I do that, I’d make it black and white, but only for the contrast, then I added the colours back in.
Then when I did this, kind of by mistake, I was like, “Wow!” This gives something very special. It almost feels like you get an X-ray into the soul, in a way. So, it felt like you, kind of, took away this veneer of realism. The realism is boring. Pimples and coloured T-shirts which were not looking food, all take away from the focus of this film. So, I wanted it to feel kind of stark.
Nick: Another technical aspect of the film that I loved was the sound design. And considering this is a documentary in which there is long scenes without dialogue, how important was it for you to have that focus on the sound design?
Oystein Mamen: It was very, very important. And I really enjoyed that part of the process with this film. I’d been working so long with everything, so when we came to the sound design part of it, I really knew a lot of what I wanted. But actually getting out all of those details – the richness of it, and modulate it to enhance the rhythm of the film was great, and I had a lot of fun with that.
Nick: I mentioned the silent aspect of the film too, and silence is such a powerful tool for these men in this retreat when it comes to reflection and meditation. But I also feel like those silent moments allow us as the audience to pause and reflect and dissect the morality of a lot of these stories too. Was using the silence in that way, to get the audience to also reflect in real time, something you were intending during the process of making this film?
Oystein Mamen: I kind of had this template when editing the film that I wanted to make space for the audience to go along with the inmates, kind of in the same process with them. As close as you can. But I mean, the process is quite different over the three weeks.
Nick: There was a moment during one of the meditation sessions in the film that I involuntarily started to move my body along with the prisoners, you know!
Oystein Mamen: [laughs] That’s great!
Nick: I was rolling my neck and shoulders as they were doing it! But that made me curious to know whether there was anything in particular during your time capturing this retreat that had an affect on you, and that you have taken away from the experience for yourself personally?
Oystein Mamen: Yeah, it was a lot of things. I mean, this was a very… it was a big experience for me being a part of this retreat in many ways. But not the least, just listening to these conversations. Because they were so honest and so daring. Being in that process with themselves and sharing it with me. So that was very powerful.
But the silence was also very… I’ve been doing meditation for many years. But I’ve not been in this silent retreat. So, I kind of appreciate silence for myself, but this communal silence, where you’re together with a group for an extended period [of silence], it felt very rich and intimate in a way which I was surprised.
Nick: And it leads to some really amazing scenes later in the film! The retreat itself is such an interesting form of rehabilitation. So, I was curious to find out what your views were on prison and rehabilitation systems before you began this project? And whether your views at all have changed on how society rehabilitates prisoners after making this documentary and experiencing the retreat?
Oystein Mamen: Yeah, well, I think I learned a lot through this process regarding this question. And one thing, I think the retreat is good. I think there can be similar things you can do, it doesn’t have be Christian or religious necessarily, but I think what’s really important in this program is that those who facilitate it really put the trust to those who do it that they have to bring their stuff. They have to decide they’re going to work with it, and they’re entrusted with being people who can take moral responsibility.
Whereas in normal prison, you’re kind of a second-grade human. I mean, even in Norway, compared to a lot of different countries, has quite a high standard of prison. But still, it’s very easy to just get put into the freezer, where your ability to kind of go into your own feeling and your past, and think about what you’ve been convicted for it non-existent.
Thank you so much to Oystein Mamen for his time, and to Susan Engel for organising the interview. Punishment is premiering at the Slamdance Film Festival on Monday January 22nd, with a follow up screening on Tuesday January 23rd. You can find more information and tickets here.
