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I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

good back-story, and good acting

A Masterpiece!

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

"Steam of Life" follows a grouping of Finnish men as they talk with their friends in the sauna. The process of the sauna gives the film its structure. Movements are replicated by one group of men after another with the similar ladles, colored buckets, tree branches and the brown beer bottles. These familiar ritualistic movements give the men the courage to discuss the emotions of their lives. They share the sadness, tragedies, loneliness, frustrations and some of their joys. As these naked men expose their inner emotions, the viewer comes to appreciate the goodness of the sauna.The movie is interspersed with scenes of Finland. These scenes convey the beauty, but also the isolation of parts of Finland. While these scenes give the context of Finland, they also slow down the viewer. There are times in "Steam of Life" when the slow pace seems too slow. Yet, this seems purposeful as the interspersed scenes force the viewer to slow down and have patience. A proper sauna takes time. This time allows for people's stories. Perhaps even more importantly, it allows for real listening. Loneliness is an overwhelming emotion for many of the men. Yet, the film doesn't lead the viewer into a downward spiral of emotion. The film is shot with a richness and warmth. The viewer can almost feel the comforting heat even in the bright white tiled sauna. This richness is also kind to the characters. Their physical flaws seem unimportant compared to the flush that the sauna brings to their face. The kindness of the camera's warmth encourages the viewer to listen with kindness. These naked men shed their outer identity allowing the viewer to focus on their humanity. The ritual of the sauna brings warmth and cleanses. The physical warmth parallels the warmth shared between those in the sauna. The coldness of their exterior is gone. Yet, the sauna also cleanses from the inside out by creating sweat. Therefore the men's troubles come out in the open where the steam and the water help to lessen their grip. So after this ritualistic cleaning, the men leave with hearts, no less full, but less heavy. The parallel's of the men's stories with the sauna ritual provides the story with a uniquely Finnish structure. The message, however, is universal.Throughout the film, there are examples of Finnish ingenuity. Charmingly, this ingenuity is illustrated by the variety of objects that have second lives as saunas. These include Teepees, combine harvesters, and phone booths. This ingenuity seems to reflect the Finish culture of survival in a physically tough land. Along with this ingenuity is also a sense of resilience. Despite hardships, Finish men survive. The time in the sauna is illustrated as an essential part of this resilience. It is the place where individuals emerge with renewed inner strength.The role of the listener is that of simply a listener. These are not discussions, but instead narratives. Often listeners feel that they have to comment or contribute to the discussion. Yet, in these narratives it becomes clear that narratives need to be told not as objective stories, but as reflections of the individuals' own perspective. The listeners may have small roles, but they don't control the narrative and most importantly they don't feel compelled to interject into the narrative. Allowing the speaker to just tell their story is central to the movie. Their story is important and by extension so are they as individuals. The movie cleverly illustrates the importance of how hard it is to listen well. The story of the grandfather chopping wood is a wonderful example. Many may have interpreted his frequent wood chopping as a way of getting out of the house away from his wife. Yet, in the end, we find that he was just trying to chop enough wood for her life after he had died. Strategically placed into the film, the viewer is again instructed on what it means to listen with an open mind. Companionship is perhaps a more appropriate word for the way the men share their time in the sauna. Taking a sauna with a companion, balances out the cultural belief that a man should be able to manage everything himself. A reoccurring theme throughout the movie is the relief that the men feel upon sharing their stories with statements such as "it is good to talk" and "knowing you are not alone helps." Sauna's are not for making plans or solving problems, they are for sharing. The men featured in "Steam of Life" differ in age, occupation, situation, health and ability. Yet, they are all illustrated as equally in their humanity. They are all given as much time as they need to tell their story. Their stories are equally important. Some seem to drag on which challenges the viewer to understand the importance of patient listening. By the end of the film, the story seems to be less about the men and more about the importance of how we choose to listen to others and how that listening brings meaning to their life. By the end of the film we are reminded that it is not good to live in isolation and that companionship, perhaps even for an orphaned bear, is good.

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.

There are over two million saunas in Finland-an average of one for each household. If walls could talk, as the saying goes, the walls of these saunas would have hundreds of millions of stories like the ones in this film to tell. Steam of Life was more real and revealing than I expected it to be in many ways. The stereotype that men, especially those from Nordic countries, are more stoic and less emotional is completely negated by this film. When I think of the typical Nordic male, I think of someone hardened by years of harsh weather and the attitude of "keep your private life private" commonly held in that part of the world. Steam of Life showed me the exact opposite. It is an interesting film about Finnish men baring it all-literally and metaphorically.Although nudity is common in Nordic films, the nudity in this documentary shocked me a little bit. Perhaps I was expecting less of it because I had the idea of a more formal interview-based documentary in mind. Perhaps it was because nudity in films is usually sexual. In the end, I realized that the camera angles the filmmakers used were intentional. The men telling their stories weren't hiding anything, so the cameras weren't going to either. Their bodies also told a story of their lives-some fit, some neglected, some old and worn, others young. It makes sense that they decided to use such a powerful metaphor. I just think they could've used less to get the point across.While many of the stories were quite touching, there were a couple of anecdotes I really felt drawn to. I enjoyed the story one man told about his grandparents, and more specifically his grandfather. As a boy, he and his grandpa always chopped and stacked wood for the woodshed. This is how he remembers his grandfather-a man who was always chopping wood. Later in life, his grandpa gets dementia and moves to a nursing home. Even though he didn't always remember who the people were who visited, he always asked about how big his woodpile was. One day, when the man who was telling the story visited his grandfather and filled him in on the status of the woodpile, the old man started to cry and apologize. The storyteller later realized that his grandfather was trying to stockpile enough wood to provide for his wife for the rest of her life. I found this story of love and dedication very sweet. It reminded me of my own grandparents, who I watched go through the stages of Alzheimer's. I also have spent lots of time creating woodpiles with others and I realize how strong of a bond people can create when doing such hard work together.The other story I liked was the man who raised orphaned bear cubs. I thought it was cute how it was not clear right away that he was talking about a bear. It was nice to see the film portray not only a man who has a soft spot for his pets, but also a seemingly dangerous animal that has a soft spot for his caretaker. This sketch also tied two important Finnish aspects together-nature and saunas! Even the bears take saunas sometimes.One thing I thought was kind of artistic and interesting was the transitions used in this documentary. One does not necessarily think of documentaries as being artistic and symbolic, but this one definitely was at times. Between each of the stories, and during some of them, the camera cut to a scene of water being thrown on the sauna rocks. This always signaled a shift in emotions, right before things "heated up," literally and emotionally. There were several different types of sauna rocks show in this film. This just shows how each sauna, like each story, is different from the rest.All documentaries are intended to enlighten and teach the viewer something. Before this film, I knew saunas were popular in Finland. However, I did not realize the huge cultural and spiritual significance behind them. The saunas are an important part of Finnish life. There are saunas in businesses, public saunas, roadside saunas the size of a telephone booth, and saunas in mines. I read once that most Finns take a sauna at least once a week and the process can take hours. All these saunas provide people with a sense of community and support, a place to go where they will not be judged or ridiculed, a place where they can go to get things off their chests. It seems almost like a religious thing to me, and it definitely has a spiritual quality to it. It seems that the sauna is like a sanctuary-a safe place for all to go. I found that to be interesting because of all the Nordic countries, Finland is the only one that is becoming more religious. The rest are becoming increasingly secularized. Maybe sauna counts as a religion? It definitely has the accepting, forgiving nature many religions claim to have.My reaction to this film was tepid-definitely not as hot as the saunas it portrayed. Although parts of this movie were interesting and some were very emotional and engaging, other parts were not. I found myself checking my watch at point because the film did seem to be long, even at only 80 minutes. There are definitely some stories that are less engaging. I think if I understood Finnish it would be more meaningful, but I feel that meaning and emotion are sometimes lost in the English subtitles, especially when the scene was shot entirely in the sauna. However, overall I think there are some valuable things this film has to offer. It gives a glimpse into the everyday lives and of Finns but also into their life-defining moments, like the death of a child. It paints a good picture of the sense of community Finns have, and I think everyone can learn from that.

A documentary that covers just about the whole emotional spectrum. The idea is simple: the filmmakers follow Finnish men in the sauna and let them talk about their lives, and they talk, punctuated with silence. They share their life's stories, they talk about their children, they talk about lost loves, dreams and hopes. We see a lot of different men in different saunas and in different places in their lives. I had heard praise about this film before seeing it, but after the film I was still surprised. The film is immensely touching, and I noticed most of the audience (consisting, of, to my surprise, mostly of men) was in tears when the lights came back on. This film says something very important about Finnish men, and Finnish culture in general. That even though not much may be said, the understanding, the compassion, and the friendship are still there.In the best Finnish documentary tradition the film also has a lighter and funnier side. Some scenes will make you laugh in awe, some will leave you in tears.