Budapest Classic Film Marathon 2024: A Woman Heats the Sauna

Director: Arvo Kruusement

Written by Villem Gross
Screenplay by Vladimir Valutskiy
Director of photography: Jüri Garsnek
Music by Veljo Tormis
Cast: Ita Ever, Aarne Üksküla, Katrin Välbe

Programme section "Open Archives" / Estonian Film Archive

Hungarian-made Ikarusz buses can handle the hard Estonian winters. This is one more thing that is apparent from the Estonian film classic adapted from the Villem Gross novel. Anu has to travel to the countryside in snowy, bitterly cold weather to get everything ready for the arrival of illustrious guests, especially the sauna. If one is looking for the forerunner of Smoke Sauna Sisterhood in this film, they’ll find it. The advantage and the essence of this work is the female perspective, showing the fates women endure. It is a bittersweet critique of a male-dominated society. Anu is a strong and independent woman who is forced to face her past in this rural town.

Supporting film: Salty Slops
Hungarian animation, colour, 1969, dir: Péter Szoboszlay, Language: Hungarian, Subtitles: English, 4’

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