Steam of Life

The documentary listens to Finnish men in the sauna. The camera moves from one hut to the next: a sauna in the woods, a sauna built into a caravan, a sauna converted from a telephone box, a factory changing room. The men inside talk. What they say is what they do not say outside: children who died, marriages lost, years in prison, fatherhood let slip. Nobody advises anybody. Nobody apologises for crying. Then the steam is renewed and it is someone else's turn. Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen direct the Finnish documentary; eighty minutes, shot in different parts of the country. The men speaking are not actors. It drew attention in Finland for getting men to talk about what they do not talk about, and was shown in many countries.