Sauna (2008)

Viktor Klimenko: Semenski

Photos 

Quotes 

• Semenski : Why would any dog scratch his own eyes out?

• Semenski : [Subtitled version]  Captain Spore. Glasses almost make you look like a civilized person. In reality you're an invalid, who has lived far too long. You are scared of peace, because the end of war will take away the justification for the murders that you have on your conscience.

• Semenski : [Subtitled version]  So, you found peace in the heart of the swamp?

  Elder : No. We found something else. Since the day we moved here, none of us has really dared to live... or die. Our girl was born on the way here. She's the last child born in the village.

  Semenski : I still don't understand.

  Eerik : Superstition. In Finland, newborns are bathed in the sauna. Same thing with the deceased. It's done to wash away the past... and old sins.

• Semenski : There used to be a monastery here that belonged to the Russian Church. It's more surprising that the sauna might have been here before that. The monks found it in the middle of the swamp and built the monastery next to it. Something made them think that all sins could be forgiven in the sauna, without an apology and without prayer.