A naked man sits thoughtful on a wooden bench. He leans forward to scoop water out of a bucket, throwing it onto the scorching hot rocks. He leans back, the water sizzling into steam as he tells his slow and solemn story. You could almost imagine the story is just for you. The same man sits on a porch surrounded by nature. He continues to speak as mosquitos buzz around the camera. The buzzing is almost annoying, except you can tell that this is his life, this is his comfort zone, and you fall into it. Back in the sauna, he slaps himself repeatedly with vihta and sits back again, waiting for a sweat to break across his forehead. The steam almost escapes through the screen.
Vivid scenes such as this are the foundation of Steam of Life (2010), or Miesten vuoro. The film, by Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen, is a striking documentary, illuminating Finnish sauna culture through tales of the men who sweat for leisure. The men tell pieces of their stories, describing evolutions of broken to full lives and back again. Topics covered include childhood abuse, lost custody and visitation of children, prison sentences, love, aging, military service, loss, friendship, companionship and bear-ownership – yes, bear-ownership – among other things. There is not an issue passed over when it comes to sauna talk for these men.
It is more than just talking though. The men drink, cry and laugh as they tell their stories, sharing in a way that many thought they might never be able. As the film progresses, then men share the lessons learned from their anecdotes, and it all comes together near the end when one man sums up what Sauna culture fulfills.
"When I was younger, I thought you should manage everything alone
But later I realized that being alone is the hardest thing. Knowing that you don't have to go through it alone helps."
And that more or less sums up the point of the film, it seems, and the placement at the end would support this. The film tells us that life is meant to be shared, and for Finnish men, the sauna is where that happens.
While the stories are the core of the film, technical elements help to get the point across. I saw a noteworthy parallel between the editing of the film and the way the men told their life stories. The cycle follows as such: A man sits peacefully in a sauna. He slaps himself with vihta to improve circulation. He throws water onto the stones, and the sizzling breaks the peace, but it calms. And as soon as it calms, he throws water on it again. Every bit of water that hits the rocks makes the man sweat a little bit more, and relief comes as the steam relaxes his body. Once the man is done telling his story, the film cuts to a peaceful nature scene, underscored by music.
Where's the parallel? Well, in life, a man sits peacefully. He does what he can to improve his life. But then something happens and it breaks the peace. All the man can do is wait until peace comes again and brings relief. And then comes the music, which symbolizes peace in harmony – people coming together as they do in the end of the film to find common peace. The music is a respite from the funny, the sad, the infuriating. It is the point where men can come together and face their trials and triumphs as a community.
There are dozens of quotes in the film that further this idea of community, most coming at the end of each man's story. Starting at the beginning, some are as follows: "It's good that I can tell you." "We could cry together. I'm always crying alone." "I've always had empty pockets. Now I have my family and empty pockets." "But I just had to carry on, and you get the strength for it as you go along." "That's when I realized that love comes in different forms." "I have to take it one day at a time" "I always thought that life is ruled with rationale and theories and intellect and head
Then you lose your child, and there is no reason, it's all pure emotion."
So these men find solace in their discoveries, challenging as the outcome of each story may be. They find peace in community, family, perseverance and relinquishing control to emotion. The film does more than just display Finnish sauna culture. It teaches its viewers to learn from both these men and their experiences, but also their own experiences. It also shows that sometimes you have to be beyond the difficulties of life to find clarity and it may take a remote place of peace, like a sauna in Finland, to really get to that point.
I give this film an eight out of ten. It tells a great story, and a great many stories at that, and shows a part of life in a corner of the world that I didn't know about. It's educational, informative and interesting. The film accomplishes what it sets out to do, and if you are looking for a tranquil film that will make you think, you've found it. However if you're looking for an entertaining, light-hearted comedy, you won't find it in Steam of Life. You will simply find a couple dozen men pondering life – naked, mind you.
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