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Smoke Sauna Sisterhood-360P

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

In Southern Estonia, women gather is the remote forest, get naked in heated cabins then cool themselves in the icy waters, sing songs about sauna, and talk, if this film is anything to go by, almost exclusively about the pain of being a woman in this world. It's a powerful piece, and the matter of fact way in which they share their darkest secrets is peculiarly affecting. Nonetheless, I felt I was only being told half the story. Who are these people, what are their relationships to each other in the outside world, what role does sauna play in their wider lives, and do they never just chat? The deliberately claustrophic construction of the film emphasises the sense of sisterhood, but are such profound shared experiences truly universal? Director Anna Hints has created something astonishing here, but also made it hard to place in ordinary life.

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This is definitely one of the better kinds of documentaries, delving into the every day lives, the small stories, and conveying it all through an artistic, yet authentic lens. It is indeed a very good celebration of life, of great chemistry between the leads, and an overall good feeling, yet with a flair of tragedy somewhat present. The cutting and editing is stellar, and the incredible director has paced the film very well. An overall fluid and ever interesting, intriguing achievement. Overall, definitely an incredible and ever recommended documentary, that is definitely an example of stellar filmmaking all around!

Saw this at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival "Smoke Sauna Sisterhood" is a documentary about the darkness of a smoke sauna, women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences, washing off the shame trapped in their bodies and regaining their strength through a sense of communion. This documentary is pretty strange and weird, but I really like this film. Throughout, the visual presentation and sound designs helps to capture the essence of a sauna, tone, and environment of Estonia. The words expressed from the participants are interesting as they helped to provide quite memorizing discussions about womanhood and their bodies. Each direction felt like the film was taking a half documentary and half narrative type style with beautiful soundtrack and writing throughout. The idea of people going in saunas to have spiritual experiences is quite fascinating. This won the Directing, Screenwriting and Editing award for the World Dramatic Documentary Competition and I can see why. The writing, directing and style of editing is really good and the award was well-deserved. Rating: A-

If they had used the Sauna Radar portal, such problems would not have happened. I'm kidding=) But seriously, "Smoke Sauna Sisterhood" feels like a work of reflective art, weaving stories of relatable pains and joys as women, allowing all involved to heal and cleanse together. As a viewer, it's comforting to see the different layers of healing found universally. A tidal wave of emotion that builds and builds into a crashing catharsis. While most documentaries thrive on the strength of their story, Smoke Sauna Sisterhood is powerful simply because it accords a group of women the space to tell theirs.

The level of pretending some people have to take their fake extent of importance is at madhouse levels. Watching people malform and twist their personalities like this on display, only to trick others in a silly way, as an adult pass time too, is eye opening. I never understood that people can take things so far, for absolutely so little progress, growth or improvement. The is Growth Grifting or Growth Scamming. Something different entirely. I think this is a real world depiction of mental failings and sick people with too much attention (as that's part of the allure, most mature and responsible viewers are as "I don't know why this is being filmed, it's so senseless and non-serious, but it's incredible that it's being filmed so that's why i'm watching this uncanny spectacle of waste and ingratitude), as it doesn't lead to anything beneficial to the collective or the greater good. These creatures only seem to live for themselves and that would make them heinous experiences to interact with in person. Despite the artistic cinematography. Sorry, I wasn't born two minutes ago morons. I had to give it ten stars because I'm impressed how far bad people can take it.

This is a very intimate exploration of the female psyche, but at the same time it's barely a film. Naked women in South Estonia spend time in a sauna sharing their secrets and pains and thus ritualistically cleansing themselves of them. An interesting concept, I would say especially for young people who have not been exposed to these kind of stories or had never had the opportunity to feel understood by peers and might learn something. There is some beautiful scenery and traditional and mystical rituals that are filmed very nicely, too. However nothing else much happens. If you are in the mood to hear these intimate stories of childhood trauma, love, teen love, abortions, rape, violence, mother daughter relationship, lesbianism, body image issues and so on, this is a great film for you. Yet at the same time it can be considered a loose collection of short female confessions that can be read separately, like a series of blog posts. My wife absolutely loved it. I felt it was not for me, although I appreciated it the format. The sauna in East Estonia and Finland and those areas is not merely a thing you do for pleasure, but has deep roots in their old culture, even pre-Christian and may have roots in rituals in the Neolithic. The film touches on that through scenes that show what is being done, but without any explanation. Read about it, it's fascinating. Bottom line: it's a film for women.