Sauna (2008)
Studio: IFC Films
Release Date: March 25, 2009
Directed By: Antti-Jussi Annila
Cast: Ville Virtanen, Tommi Eronen, Viktor Klimenko, Rain Tolk
Brutal As Hell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Review By: Marc Patterson

It is 1595 and the end of a long twenty-five year war between Russia and Finland. Finnish brothers Eerik Spore (Virtanen) and Knut Spore (Eronen) have been commissioned to meet with Russians soldiers to form a joint commission and mark the new border. The two brothers are spectrally the total opposite of each other. Eerik has spent a life of a soldier, fighting and making war. He knows little else. Though his eyeglasses give him the look of a wise man he embodies the soul of a brute warrior. Younger brother Knut is a scholar and a thinker who is waiting to take post as a professor for a Swedish university upon the completion of their task.

While waiting to meet with their Russian counterparts the two brothers take shelter with a simple Russian peasant and his daughter. During the stay Eerik, in a rage against the ideology of the Russians kills the old man, and locks the daughter in the cellar. Wanting to remove themselves from possible discovery of their deeds they move on to meet the soldiers and begin their task, leaving the young girl in the cellar to die. As they meet up with the Russians the incident is all but forgotten until Knut’s guilt builds and he begins to be haunted by the voice of the young girl, who calls him back, and then begins to appear to him.

As the tension arises the commission discovers an oddly placed sauna in the middle of a swamp, and a small uncharted village. They take up shelter at the village, hoping to determine if the village should go to the Russians or the Fins. What they discover in the village is their own sin, which ultimately forces them to face themselves, and in hopes of redemption they must enter the sauna, which is reputed for its ability to cleanse. However, the price of forgiveness can be extremely burdensome, sometimes costing as much as a life.

Subtly confronting and visually haunting Sauna has been easily classified as a horror film, though it begs to be looked at as something perhaps more. Contrary to its quiet tone and intentional slow pacing there is a flurry of activity going on here, and with every opportunity to answer one question more arise, creating one of the more contemplative horror treatments to play to audiences in some time. In a stark juxtaposition to American filmmaking where even heavily philosophical pieces frame themselves out with a nice clean wrap up, closing most of the open ended questions, Sauna doesn’t bother. It asks that the audience take an active role in drawing their own conclusions. This isn’t sloppy filmmaking, or lazy on the part of the director. Such questions can’t be answered easily, and to do so would counter the effect of the film.

Sauna is a difficult film to encapsulate in such a short space. At center of the film is the theme of forgiveness, atonement and redemption. Though the concepts of filth, hell, damnation, and sexuality play dominantly throughout as well. There are so many places to go with the discussion that this film fully validates a collegiate dissertation in both philosophy and film. Much more than we can devote here. Our advise is don’t check your brain at the door.

Visually the film is as poetic as the script. It opens to gentle bubbling water from a cold river creating a sense of calm and serenity before the river begins to run red with blood. The landscape throughout is equally stark and minimalist. With the setting in the late fall the backdrop of nature perfectly complements the story. As we move closer to the sauna winter begins to set in providing more metaphor as life itself moves from death into a fresh blanket of snow covered purity. Antti-Jussi Annila shows his mastery of combining visual with the story to accomplish his end. Though the film runs light on the raw visceral horror that many may hope and expect for, it proves that a little bit of red can go a long way.

Sauna is highly deserving of a viewing, though don’t expect flashy violence and clichéd jump scares. It’s the kind of horror that immerses itself in the subtle and haunts from inside.