Sauna

Following the end of the decades-long war between Russia and Sweden, a group of soldiers from both countries is assigned the task of defining a new border. Among this group are Eerik and Knut, two brothers who couldn't be more different. The former is a vicious soldier who has been fighting his entire life, while the latter is a civilized collegian who came along due to his expertise in crafting maps. On a scouting run separate from the rest of the group, the two encounter a farmer and his daughter. Bad things happen and the brothers rejoin the expedition the next morning, but what transpired at the remote farm leads to severe feelings of guilt for Knut. He even feels that he's being followed. Continuing their trek across the barren terrain, the men eventually come across a mysterious town where no such place should logically exist. What's more, something seems very off with the inhabitants and, more importantly, with the sauna that stands just outside of the village's reach.

I caught this back in early December on a cold, dreary night. As much as I despise cold weather, it actually made for a fitting atmosphere in which to watch this film. Not just because of the snowy locales or skies drained of color, but also due to the chilling predicament of the characters and the weight of the film's themes. Sauna is a picture that festered in my mind for a good while afterward. I didn't know what to expect going in, but I came out thinking that this was one of the most intriguing horror films I had seen in years. I bought the DVD shortly after my initial viewing, though I still have yet to revisit it. All these months later, it continues to pop back into my head from time to time. It has stayed with me in a way that only a truly haunting piece of work could. I intend to re-watch it when I feel that the timing is right, not before.

The film boasts a strong period setting and some effectively unsettling moments (all about that first time Knut catches a glimpse of a figure across the swamp) set against a mood of pure despair. The characters here are as cold and gloomy as the atmosphere which surrounds them. The acting is resoundingly strong across the board, most notably that of Ville Virtanen as the bloodthirsty Eerik. His character is that of a murderous sociopath who has never known anything but war, yet Virtanen instills the part with a certain sense of empathy and regret underneath the seething hatred. We are also privy to cinematography that, while dark and drained of life, has an exquisite beauty to it. You really feel the chilled air right along with the characters. I'm still not sure that I fully understand everything that goes on in the film, but hey, half of the fun is speculating. There are numerous layers here to keep your mind busy with interpretation. Oh, and the ending is quite something as well!

Alas, discussion around the web appears to be sparse when it comes to this title. If you like eerie, artistic horror, you owe it to yourself to give Sauna a shot. You may not care for it, as this kind of film will never be for everyone, but you will witness one of the more unique genre entries in many a year. All in all, it's a fascinating film that is rewarding in more ways than I can count.

Strikingly beautiful Finnish art house 'horror' film about guilt, religion, sin and punishment, set in the 16th century, at the end of the Russian/Swedish war.

It's full of atmosphere, symbolism, and unanswered questions. Two Swedish brothers/soldiers -- one intellectual, the other violent and borderline mad -- come to a strange town where they are confronted with eerie reminders of their sins, and of those they have killed in war.

Slow paced, but not boring. However, the underlying ideas do get stretched a bit thin over time, and the occasional turn to horror clichés was a little disappointing given the generally high level of intelligence and originality.

Still, interesting enough that I would give it another look now that I understand what its getting at, and gorgeous enough that I'll still enjoy it, even if I'm once again left with mixed feelings about some of the content.

Mention also must be made of the arresting performance by Ville Virtanen as the violent Eerik, recalling Max Von Sydow in his prime.

The supernatural permeates this enigmatic tale, in which three Russian soldiers, a Finnish warrior and his cartographer brother try to map borders, at the end of the bloody war between Russia and Finland (under the rule of Sweden) during the 16th century. There is something of a chivalrous nature in their mission, but the savage extermination of a peasant and his daughter, unleashes the center of the tragic story.

Halfway through the journey, the company comes across a village in the middle of marshy lands and, next to the settlement, a mysterious sauna, in which people can wash away the evils they have committed in their lives, according to a Russian text, written by the monks who originally inhabited the village.

In the final third, horror dominates the story, following the lines of graphic terror, in a way that loses the balance of the previous hour. Until that moment the film has been carried with an inscrutable tone, a foreboding atmosphere and fear inspired by the unknown, accompanied by a constant musical commentary that does not get in the way, like other times, in so many films. The climax scenes are more repellent than terrifying and not because they are visually unpleasant or ineffective, but because of their cryptic quality, because they are so inexplicable, between superstitious behavior and the true expiation of the guilt of these men. Fortunately, in the coda, the film resumes its initial tone and returns to its opening scenes, which suggest the ironic final destination of the cartographic mission.

«Sauna» is a very interesting work that deserves to be seen, whose mixture of history, politics and terror, reminded me of «Ravenous», Antonia Bird's exceptional horror drama on expansionism and cannibalism (and cowardice). The film is guided with admirable rigor by the director and interpreted with aplomb by the entire cast. Despite everything, the recommendation persists on my part, because everything that precedes is so good. that the movie deserves it.

Two brothers, part of a border-recognition treaty detachment after a very long war, confront and deal with the wartime acts of brutality and violence of the older brother. The older brother has been part of this war for 25 years; the younger brother has been studying to become a professor and has been comparatively sheltered from the horrors. The younger brother comes face to face with his older brother's moral deterioration, and, disturbed by the older brother's acts of war, eventually persuades (and forces) the older brother to completely atone for those actions. The amount of spookiness achieved with no special effects other than blood, is truly remarkable, and a lesson for Hollywood. And in the end, the viewer is left with an uncertainty as to who must pay for sins, and why, and whether anyone, ever, is truly innocent.

If someone told me "hey, watch this movie about a haunted sauna, its a really scary horror movie!".. I guess I'd stay as far away from the movie as possible. Luckily I saw some pictures of this Finnish movie and they looked really great.

Everyone looking for a horror movie should stay away from this. Its pretty laughable that so many people focus on the sauna and some ghosts in this movie as typical horror clichés while the director works so obviously on making every single piece and image in this movie a symbol for guilt.

"Sauna" or "Filth" (which is the far more fitting title referring to a statement by one of the Russian soldiers in this movie) is placed after the Russian/Swedish war around 1600 when a group of Russian and Swedish soldiers are setting for the new borders. The opening of the movie with the drawing of borders in blood and then the first shots of water turning red already indicate where this movie is going. Everything is carried by some great cinematography and the lead characters, 2 brothers of a very different kind. One is Knut, a mapmaker with high goals, the other is Erik, a soldier with a grim past who has his problems adjusting to the new peace.

Erik constantly looking for trouble soon gets the group of soldiers into problems when messing with a family. The town the group soon finds in the middle of a swamp becomes a clear symbol of Erics previous atrocities with as many inhabitants as victims on Erics list, a strange girl reminding them of recent wrongdoings (also involving a sauna) and animals and people who clawed out their eyes. The whole issue of not being able to face your past is present throughout the movie that is more like a fable. There is plenty of interesting historical information as well as philosophical dialog including the story about the king and filth or the thoughts if hell is just a place that god turned his back on. The place is soon presented and the irony is that yet everyone is fighting for the land soon there is a place that no one wants to take but rather wants to give to his enemy.

"Sauna" is full of these abstract images and the finale is far from a clear resolution. After all the director clearly tries to make the viewer have his own thoughts. Actually I am still working on figuring the closing images out but however this is a damn interesting and different movie with great cinematography, acting and an interesting setting. There sure are some horror elements in this movie, but I'd rather consider this a mix of art-house movie and drama and its definitely worth giving a chance.