4 stars (out of 5)
Directors: Joonas Berghall, Mika Hotakainen
Rating: (M )
The Finnish are the quirkiest nation in Scandinavia. Their nationwide obsession with motor racing, heavy metal and vodka is well known, but these pastimes are easily surpassed by sauna.
Finns undertake the quest for steam with the kind of cunning that would astound backyard builders here. The prize for the most amusing sauna has to go to one enterprising gentleman and his phone-booth creation.
But in Steam of Life, the sauna is merely the device used by the film-makers to explore the thorny topic of male bonding, with striking candour and respect for cultural significance. Carefully selected conversations are slapped together with a remarkable absence of editing or camera movement, each portrait as raw and uncompromising as the next.
Tackling an element of the male psyche seldom explored, the formula is really simple. Men enter a sauna and discuss emotional episodes from their past. Stripped of any inhibitions, the sauna functions as a makeshift confessional.
As the bold Finnish men relax in their stifling man-caves, tears mingle with sweat as they confront past demons and personal tragedies. The overarching theme is sharing, and even though there is often beer being swigged, Steam of Life couldn't be further removed from the type of pub banter we take for mateship here.
Best thing: The ingenuity of the Finnish sauna builders.
Worst thing: The pace. Torturously slow in places, it's not for those seeking a quick fix.
See it with: Anyone not easily offended by potbellies and unashamed male nudity.
- Mark Orton
