A toxic masculine person isn’t created from nothing. It’s a slow cycle, forged from a young age where boys are taught to be the strongest, to be the best, and to hide their vulnerabilities. Rumi Kaul’s boyhood drama Cage (Kooi) captures the inception of these ideals amongst a group of teens as they indoctrinate one of their number’s younger brothers into their problematic ways. Despite being only seven minutes long, Kaul succeeds in bringing the subtlety of this transition to screen, showing how the one-upmanship that is so prominent in young males is manifested on the playground. DN is excited to premiere Cage in conjunction with an in-depth conversation with Kaul where he discusses the ideals of youth and masculinity he wanted to unpack, the process of securing funding for the project, and the challenge of casting his troupe of young actors.
What drew you to explore youth and masculinity through this film?
The initial concept came from a meeting with Co-Writer Demian van der Wekken. We wanted to make a film about masculinity, and we talked about growing up as a boy and the idea of becoming a man in society. One of our first memories to pop up was that of the Football Cage. We spent hours in these cages, and it was a big part of our upbringing and that of many other kids. They were like arenas. Almost like a mini-society with its own set of rules: be the strongest, be the best, emotions are weak, and you definitely do not want to be the weak one. We played violent games where the loser would get physically punished. The extreme values provided by the cage sparked an interest in Demian and me. This interest came from the duality in which we perceived these memories. On the one hand, fondly and nostalgically, on the other critically, because without being aware of it at the time, these were the first lessons we learned about being a man.
So we started writing and found that the cage itself, the location, was a great metaphor. The masculinity that we are taught and stuck with is locked away in us from a young age. Moreover, the behaviour could be described as almost animal-like, like animals in a cage.
How did you get the project off the ground in terms of funding?
We applied for a fund called De Ontmoeting (The Meeting), which connects a production company with your project and they will invest five thousand euros in it. We were linked with Smarthouse Films, who guided us through the process and helped with certain parts of the film and also gave us half of the budget. The other half was to funded by crowdfunding. So we raised another 5k and made this film for 10K. One rule was given to us, the film could not be longer than seven minutes.
What were you looking for when you were location scouting the cage?
Location scouting was very fun. We scouted out every cage in and around Amsterdam, where we also met a lot of kids that we talked to. To our surprise, nothing had really changed. We mentioned the games we played, and every single one of them still existed. Only the name had changed. Location scouting also became thorough research, because we wanted the film to fit into contemporary times rather than when we were young. Once we eventually got to the location we chose for the film, me and DoP Brian van Dijk immediately saw this was the one. A good location was important because it was only going to be that and the characters in the film. So to make it visually interesting we needed a perfect cage. The bars were high and clinical, and it had a round form that resembled an arena. Eventually, we learned that there was a mistake in the design, and the bars became a lot longer than they should have been. One resident told us people were complaining about it because it resembled a “prison in their courtyard”. That just fit the film perfectly.
The masculinity that we are taught and stuck with is locked away in us from a young age.
How did you find your young actors? Did you street cast for the roles?
Casting was also a tough but very fun process. We had an enormous amount of kids coming to audition. We eventually found our five lead boys through a call on social media, our casting agency but also street casting. Me and my Producers Cleo Duijvelshof, Lisa Hagenbeek, and Production Manager Luc Hueber went on the streets for weeks, talking to kids and asking if they wanted to audition. Eventually, it became a mix of street casting and casting with an agency, but most of the boys had no experience in acting.
On a visual level, how did you work with your DoP to render the world of these young men?
The visual approach was an important component in telling the story. The first time we visited the location, our DOP Brian van Dijk was taking pictures through the bars from the outside. His smile soon left his face when I had to disappoint him. Shooting through these bars, seeing the kids meant judging them from the outside. But to understand the dynamics and the behaviour of these kids we needed to be close. We needed to be inside the cage with them. Brian understood this and shot the film very well within these restrictions. We used an ARRI Amira. Only at the end do we leave them and take a bird’s view, reflecting on this subject in a general sense. Also the long shots, to make it more immersive and therefore realistic, leaned a lot on the performances of the actors. But through the casting process I had found the best kids for the job and was very proud of their work on set.
To understand the dynamics and the behaviour of these kids we needed to be close. We needed to be inside the cage with them.
Did you give your actors much freedom in their speech or was everything tightly scripted?
The dialogue of the kids was all scripted, but the way they would pronounce or say it was free. I left it up to them because I trusted them. I knew when we talked in a group about the script that this was a story that they knew. It was close to them. On set it just happened and I was there to guide them in the right direction.
Seven minutes isn’t a lot of time but Cage is paced so well that you do get a sense of who these boys are over that period. Was that something you finessed in the edit?
In editing, I wanted to make the film flow in a way that you felt you’ve experienced a whole day with these kids although the film is just seven minutes. Pepijn Ahsmann, the editor, did a good job at creating an acceptable pacing that felt exhilarating but still nuanced enough to follow the story the way we wanted to tell it. Throughout the process, we were trying to make the film fast but still keep the sensibility with which we approached this subject. In the end, it should be more about the character’s emotions over an exhilarating pace.
I wanted to make the film flow in a way you felt you’ve experienced a whole day with these kids.
How did you find the other aspects of post-production? Constructing the sound design of the playground for example or choosing the song at the end?
Sound design was a silent warrior on this one. Coen Bruins, the sound designer, made a great effort using everything he had at his disposal regarding the location and these characters. I didn’t want music or fake emphasising drones or sounds to guide the film emotionally because it would only distract us from the experience of the characters. This sounds kind of dry, but it’s not. The film is filled with dialogue, sounds and strong silences that contribute to the film emotionally. Which sounds those are, I won’t say.
Only at the end, as the camera pulls out, does the great song made by STYN give us room for reflection. I call that a city song. I don’t know why but it feels right, and it fits the ending, or what we wanted to feel at the ending.
At this point in the film’s journey, how are you finding the process of sharing it with audiences? And is there anything you can tell us about any upcoming films you’re working on?
After the film was shown a couple of times, I got a lot of reactions from people saying they “relived their youth”, and also admitted it was kind of weird thinking back on it. I love that reaction. That’s the best reaction. I’m working on a new film right now, funded by the Dutch Film Fund, about the educational system in the Netherlands.
