Sauna (2008)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Antti-Jussi Annila

Writer:

Iiro Küttner (written by)

Release Date:

24 October 2008 (Finland)

Genre:

History | Horror

Tagline:

Wash your sins.

Plot:

As a 25-year war between Russia and Sweden concludes, two brothers who are part of an effort to outline new border accords become undone by their actions, and their mistreatment of a young woman during their journey. |

Plot Keywords:

Border | Closeted Gay | Religious Differences | Girl Pretending To Be Boy | Bathing Scene

Awards:

4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Ville Virtanen	...	Eerik
Tommi Eronen	...	Knut
Viktor Klimenko	...	Semenski
Rain Tolk	...	Rogosin
Kari Ketonen	...	Musko
Sonja Petäjäjärvi	...	Poika
Vilhelmiina Virkkunen	...	Tytär
Taisto Reimaluoto	...	Isäntä
Ismo Kallio	...	Kylänvanhin
Kati Outinen	...	Eukko
Dick Idman	...	Roukkula
Ivo Kubecka	...	Munkki
Elena Leeve	...	Isännän tyttären ääni (voice)
Elena Spirina	...	Rogosinin äidin tuutulaulu (voice)
Peter Holmlund	...	Ruotsalaisten tulkki

Also Known As:

Filth (International: English title) (pre-release title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Finland | Czech Republic

Language:

Finnish | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Finland

Company:

Bronson Club

Lacking.

The Finnish aren't known for their horror movies, and now I know why. The period piece, Sauna, which revolves around two brothers in 1575 who are assigned to set the new borders between recently warring Sweden and Russia is certainly a visual treat... but short on story.

Sauna takes on us a journey of what exactly it means to 'redeem' ones self, and if true redemption can even be achieved. One poster tagged it as the unsettling area between paganism and Christianity. While I hoped there would be a true exploration of what I perceived to be a supernatural tale about sin vs redemption, what I got was a real quick period piece about a Japanese style ghost.

The visually stunning film does a wonderful job of conveying a very unsettling landscape... one that does seem devoid of any type of "god", and the main character of Eerik is wonderfully portrayed by Ville Virtanen. But overall the film seemed too short, lacked closure, and the obvious ending that stresses 'open to interpretation' comes off more like 'closed to thought.' Even though it runs at 84 minutes, and with subtitles... the overall effect is impressive to a degree. But the overall absence of expository dialog in the last 20 minutes leaves one almost baffled.

I expect good things from the director... Antti-Jussi Annila. And while Sauna is a step in the right direction of good movie-making, it trips over it's subject matter at the "finnish" line.