TIFF Review: Sauna

Sauna

Opening Date: 10/24/2008 (Finland)

TRAILER: Trailer

ACCOMPLICES: Official Site

The Charge
Wash your sins.

Opening Statement
Intellectual horror films are by and large a rare and splendid thing, simply because they are never spotted in nature. Like the legendary Bigfoot, they roam wild through the forests, scaring the locals, but anyone who brings tale of them is dismissed as being a lunatic.

We’ve returned from a screening of Finnish director AJ Annila’s (Jade Warrior) latest film, Sauna, and boy do we have a tale to tell.

Facts of the Case
In the 16th century, after a long and bloody war stretching over twenty-five years, the kingdoms of Russia and Sweden have tentatively agreed to peace. The war-torn landscape has been decreed divided between the two warring countries. Two brothers have been tasked to meet up with their Russian counterparts and travel through treacherous forests and swamps, marking out the divided border, each side still uneasy in the presence of the other.

The older brother Eerik is a decorated and ferocious soldier in service of his King; he has killed many times, and is quick to grab his sword and kill again, despite his failing eyesight. His frightening persona gives way in private moments to heavy guilt at the burden of so many lives on hs hands. In sharp contrast, his brother Knut is an intellectual and a cartographer by trade; he lives in a world of maps and books and is ill-suited to rough travel and combat.

In a small village, Eerik and Knut find shelter, but events soon turn bloody at the hands of the short-tempered elder brother. Calling out his hosts as pagan-worshipers, he murders the father and locks the young daughter in a cellar and abandons her to her fate. Knut is tormented by the guilt of this encounter, but finds himself distressed over his own impure thoughts. Eerik refuses to return to the site, as they need to meet up with their Russian counterparts and continue their map-making mission, carving the country in twain.

As the group of uneasy allies moves forward through fog and swamp, they encounter a mysterious village on no map. The residents cannot identify themselves as being either Swedish or Russian, and both sides are eager to claim the village as their own. But the village has an uneasy air about it; its citizens are odd in behavior and manner, and Knut is inexorably drawn towards a grim stone sauna placed randomly in the center of the swamp. The sauna is both feared and respected by the townsfolk as a place of power, where one can wash away one’s sins, both of body and mind…

The Evidence
A cerebral and psychological romp through Scandinavian forests meditating on guilt and the human heart, Sauna is quite a unique cinematic experience. Part historical drama, part laborious rumination on sin, part old-fashioned horror movie, it soars over genre divides like an Olympic hurdler. Rarely do these kinds of mash-up projects succeed (take for instance the director’s previous offering, the ambitious-yet-flawed wuxia vs. urban drama Jade Empire) but in Sauna, the best parts of each unique cinematic style find a way to compliment each other.

Admittedly challenging, Sauna is vexing to those seeking a pure visceral horror experience. All of the tension and drama is generated within the psyche of the protagonists, with little in the way of on-screen action or blood. This is horror in the most classic of definitions, in the Edgar Allen Poe style of horror, where foreboding, dread, guilt and meditative reflections caused the souls of men to falter and fail. There are complex nuances and philosophical ruminations abound here, as both brothers try desperately to rationalize their existences in a changing world. Take for example the older brother who defines himself via his murdering abilities. A prized fighter during the war for his king, his age and failing eyesight have hampered his craft. Worse, now peace has come to the land. Without the constant war, how can he justify the burden of the deaths on his hands? Likewise, Knut, who has been spared the horrors of r due to his education, is now called upon to serve country, but the more he experiences the harsh realities of the world, the more his own spiritual stability declines.

It is an exciting thing indeed to encounter a genuine “thinking man’s” horror film, as they occur so infrequently. Sauna is perplexing, dense and laden with religious, spiritual and soulful iconography and debate wrapped neatly around a handsomely composed horror film. Each element balances, without any element overshadowing the film–just when the rhetoric and the psychological musings about the nature of sin and humanity start to get too much, some crazy guy with no $@#% face shows up and the bodies pile up. Then, when you’ve seen just about as much as you can take of that, suddenly we are drawn into the sauna; on the nature of washing away one’s sin without the need for God, and whether this is a good thing or not.

The film is entirely set in the daylight, which makes it all the more masterful a composition of dark and brooding horror. having little in the way of shadows, tension is generated through artful composition, loud sound cues and the bleak background of forest and swamp that always seems to have a perpetual grey fog. Director AJ Annila is a fantastic and unexpected talent, with direction and cinematography meticulously composed and elegant in the finest of classic style, perfectly interwoven with modern-day horror techniques (very reminiscent of what Japanese J-Horror is doing these days).

Gritty and complex, this is not an easy film to digest, especially for those looking for a quick and bloody fix, so fare thee warned. There are elements explored in Sauna that are riveting and completely unique in the world of horror: meditations on original sin, on Christianity versus Paganism, of flawed souls and loss of faith in humanity and so on. During the screening, director AJ Annila commented on how unexpected this film was for the studio who ordered it commissioned. After all, when you think of a horror film called Sauna, you think of steamy rooms, naked girls, things of this nature… not a sixteenth-century historical exploration on sin with excessive male nudity. Suffice it to say, the studio was delivered a very different film than they expected to receive.. Lucky for everyone involved, they were intrigued.

Closing Statement
Keep your fingers crossed that North American audiences will get a chance to see Sauna sometime soon. A theatrical release is unlikely, but DVD Verdict will keep its eyes out. This film will not be for everyone (especially gore-hounds) but for anyone tired of the horror genre insulting their intelligence, come take a nice soak in the Sauna.

The Verdict
A uniquely weird and wonderful experience.

7/10

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