Land of the Midnight Sauna, Part One: Mikko Niskanen's Sensual Pastoral Skin, Skin

SKIN, SKIN / Käpy Selän Alla
(Mikko Niskanen, 1966, Finland, 35mm, 89 minutes)

"The Finnish word sisu means resilience and survival under difficult circumstances. In shorthand, it's often translated as 'guts,' and is regarded as a characteristic Finnish trait."
--From the introduction to Sisu Cinema: Nine from the Finnish New Wave

In regarding the Finnish New Wave, it's tempting to look for antecedents to Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki's pitch-black comic style. On the basis of Mikko Niskanen's 1966 Skin, Skin and 1972 Eight Deadly Shots, however--I've also seen Jörn Donner's Sixtynine 69 and Anna--Kaurismäki's miserablist masterworks, like 1996's Drifting Clouds and 2002's The Man Without a Past, seem more idiosyncratic than ever.

To be sure, humor abounds in Skin, Skin, aka Skin to Skin, but it isn't brushed with blackness, while Eight Deadly Shots is downright Bressonian in its tragic trajectory; humor isn't part of the equation at all. Only six years separate the two, but they couldn't have less in common, and almost feel like the products of separate sensibilities. (The NWFF will also be screening Niskanen's Song of the Scarlet Flower from 1971.)

In the director's first entry, two college-age couples set up camp by the seaside in order to get to know each other--and themselves--better. (Anna, starring Donner's Swedish wife, Harriet Andersson, also takes place by the shore; unfortunately, there are no more screenings of Anna and Sixtynine 69.) Based on their skittish behavior, Skin, Skin's female protagonists would appear to be virgins, while their boyish suitors are more experienced--about sex that is, not the ways of the world.

Boisterous brunette Riita (Kristiina Halkola) reminds her companions of Tunisian-Italian beauty Claudia Cardinale--an understandable observation--while circumspect blonde Leena (Kirsti Wallasvaara) evokes Brigitte Bardot, particularly once she dons her newsboy cap.

The men also seem familiar, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Spontaneous Jean-Pierre Leaud type Timo (Pekka Autiovuori), a medic whose skills will come in handy, wears spectacles. His brooding companion, Santtu (Eero Melasniemi, Halkola's spouse), cops a Rebel without a Cause attitude and shaggy hairstyle, indicating a less conformist outlook--either that or he's just more attuned to 1960s fashions.

As Finnish historian Sakari Toiviiainen notes in "New Finnish Cinema," "The main characters...corresponded to the image youth had of itself, but equally to the image the parents had: their characterization was so general that they were like products of the advertising and debate being directed towards them, that is, they behaved more like 'young' than individuals." He adds that the film was "an enormous success."

During the picture, the women sing a few songs, which all sound like Finnish variations on the French chanson--there's also a chic singer-actress on holiday (Anneli Sauli), who performs a number during the pivotal dance hall sequence--but Skin, Skin isn't a musical. It's more like a sex comedy, an introspective pastoral miles removed from the urban insanity of Donner's Sixtynine 69 with its human-and canine-coupling.

Despite a few jump cuts, the results more closely resemble a pre-Vietnam American independent rather than a Scandinavian nouvelle vague entry. These pretty young people have carnal relations on their minds rather than politics. They're also concerned about their futures, but only in the most general sense, i.e. Riita wants to settle down, Santtu doesn't.

If Skin, Skin sounds light, that's because it is, but it's also entertaining, erotic, and well worth seeing on the big screen (home video isn't an option at presnt). Maybe Finland's "sauna culture" helps to explain the phenomenon, but there's as much casual nudity in these movies--naked bathing figures in Sixtynine 69, while abundant skinny-dipping decorates Anna--as hard alcohol. Which is to say: a bountiful bevy of both.

Next: Eight Deadly Shots

   

Sisu Cinema: Nine from the Finnish New Wave runs at the Northwest Film Forum from 2/1-17. Curated by Adam Sekuler, Seattle is the only North American city to host the series. Skin, Skin plays on Fri. 2/8. The NWFF is located at 1515 12th Ave. on Capitol Hill between Pike and Pine. For more information, please call 206-329-2629. Images: Close-up and MUBI.