Sauna (2008)

Thanks for the memories!

Such a frustrating disappointment

hyped garbage

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's 1595 after a 25 year war between Sweden-Finland and Russia. Two commissions are sent to mark the new border. The southern commission would not make it to the meeting place. Battle hardened Knut leads the Sweden-Finnish delegation. His brother Eerik is hoping to make a map of the uncharted territories and present it to the King. They brutalize a father and daughter in an isolated home at the swamps with their Russian icon. Eerik leaves the girl locked in the cellar storage. Then he finds that they're being followed by her spirit. They find a village in the middle of the swamp.I like the moodiness of the wilderness. However, I have a tough time connecting with these characters. I would have liked Eerik not lock the girl in the cellar. Knut should have been the one. Eerik's innocence should be maintained more. He could still feel guilty without actually being guilty. It would also make the brothers' relationship more complicated. The tension in the village could have been heightened.

Antti-Jussi Anilla Is An Interesting Director To Watch In My Opinion, The One Other Film Of His That I Saw The Whole Way Through Was Jade Warrior, Both Movies Qualify As Interesting.This Is Anilla Trying To Make An Atmospheric Horror In The Vein Of Some Of The Masters Of Suspense (eg. Alfred Hitchcock, John Carpenter) I Liked The Character Development For The Characters But If Anything I Would've Wanted It To Be A Few Minutes Longer To Set Them Up, Besides That Everything Was Pulled Off Very Well.Tommi Eronen Is The Highlight Performance But Ville Virtanen Also Pulls Off His Role Very Well.The Plot Is A Sort Of Thing Where The Less You Know About It The Better It Will Be Its One Of Those Sorts Of Movies, I'm Not Saying That Its Got A Huge Twist I'm Just Saying That Your More Likely To Enjoy It If You Don't Know That Much About It.Overall I Recommend This Film Highly.

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.

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.