Russian bath: features of the steaming procedure and rules for its implementation

“Features of the Russian Bath, or Bath Stories”
is a 1999 Russian erotic film directed by Alexei Rudakov.

“Peculiarities of the Russian Bath, or Bath Stories” were filmed in the wake of the success of Alexander Rogozhkin’s film “Peculiarities of the National Hunt” and subsequent sequels[1][2], but are in no way connected with this series of films, despite the allusion in the title and the role of the narrator Mitrich actor Viktor Bychkov, who played the role of huntsman Kuzmich in “Features...”.

Plot[ | ]

The plot of the film centers on three erotic tales told by the bathhouse attendant Mitrich to a tipsy group who came to take a steam bath in a Russian bathhouse.

“The Bathhouse Evil Spirit” is about how a drunk carpenter splashed cucumber pickle on the heater instead of water and what came of it.

“The Bath Lefty” is about the village “Lefty”, who uses a technical invention to solve the problem of a widow-lady bursting with health and vitality, who, according to the terms of her husband’s will, is not allowed to have intimate relations with males for five years.

“The Bath Truce” is about two Red Army soldiers who, returning from a mission, mixed up the direction and ended up in a bathhouse in the German rear.

Main features and benefits

Russian bathhouse is a room where people wash and steam with a broom. The temperature in the steam room is 50-70 degrees, humidity is from 60%. Most baths also have a dressing room where they undressed, dressed and rested between visits to the steam room.

Recognized gurus are still arguing about the design of the classic Russian bathhouse. Some argue that traditionally the real place was considered to be a washing room, a place where our ancestors washed themselves “by the method of splashing with the palms of a gang or dousing with a ladle.” After all, the first baths in Rus' were called soap houses. A separate steam room in the bathhouse began to be allocated only later.

Others insist that only a “black bath” with its special aroma of smoke can be authentic Russian. Still others are sure that only with brooms and a stove with a closed heater.

In Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary, a Russian bathhouse is “a building or a place where one washes and steams not just in dry heat, but in steam.”

Taking all this into account, the following features of the premises can be recognized as historically determined main features of a modern Russian bath:

Brick oven or similar with stones

Spilling floors

Burst ventilation

Pie steam

The main element and secret of the special atmosphere of the Russian bathhouse has historically been a brick heater. The stones in it were red-hot, but they were separated from the steam room by a brick wall, so the temperature in the steam room reached a maximum of 60 degrees.

Before the steaming process, the oven door was closed and water was splashed on the stones. Thus, superheated steam was formed in the room. It hung over the shelf like a thick, thick cake.

But brick ovens are gradually losing popularity. Nowadays they are replaced in baths by open heaters made of cast iron or steel. They quickly raise the temperature in the steam room, but produce harsher steam.

To achieve an ideal microclimate in the room, advanced bath attendants use new technologies, combine materials and select special fillings for the heaters.

Burst ventilation is used to illuminate the air in the steam room. It is a window from the steam room into the dressing room. In between visits, the window is opened and the air is renewed.

Sometimes, instead of a window, a hole is used in the wall at a height of about a meter from the floor. To freshen the air in this case, boiling water is splashed on the heater and a bucket of cold water is poured over the shelf. From such a contrast, exhaust air is instantly drawn into the vent and the microclimate in the steam room becomes fresh again.

The bathhouse is not only body hygiene, but also health-improving procedures for the body.

Visiting a steam room is beneficial for all systems:

Cardiovascular

When warmed up, all blood vessels dilate, blood flow accelerates and its composition changes for the better. Metabolism improves, stagnant processes in tissues are eliminated. Contrast dousing, rubbing with snow or even a fresh cool breeze after steaming relieves vascular spasm. All this is useful for vegetative-vascular dystonia.

Urogenital

The bath will help women recover after childbirth, cope with ovarian dysfunction and some diseases of the uterus. You can take a steam bath 3 – 4 months after giving birth. It is useful to visit a steam room during menopause to relieve symptoms. Regular thermal procedures help maintain sexual function and are a good prevention of impotence.

Digestive

Exposure to high temperatures reduces the acidity of gastric juice, which helps relieve the symptoms of gastritis and normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

excretory

Under the influence of steam, the pores of the skin open, and active sweating occurs. Sebum and toxins are removed from the body. The epidermis itself receives enormous aesthetic benefits from this.

Muscular

The removal of toxins and salts and improved blood circulation lead to a visual tightening of all folds. Excess lactic acid, which interferes with the conduction of nerve impulses, is also removed through the pores. There is a feeling of relaxation and painlessness in the muscles.

Starring[ | ]

Company in the bathhouse:

• Mitrich — Viktor Bychkov
• Laughable - Oleg Kurtanidze
• Simpleton - Oleg Mileev
• Vitka — Pavel Stepanov
• Laughing - Iraida Sokolova
• Tanned - Olga Zueva
• Blonde - Lyubov Rusakova

"Bathroom evil spirit":

• Carpenter - Alexander Pyatkov
• Wife - Irina Grigorieva
• Fortune Teller: Anastasia Kadentseva
• Bannitsa - Lyubov Tikhomirova (credited as Neginskaya)

"Bath Lefty":

• Lady - Oksana Stashenko
• Master - Valery Dobronravov
• Lefty - Andrey Karpov
• Godfather - Vyacheslav Kulakov
• Clerk - Konstantin Chepurin
• Light hay girl - Lyubov Medvedeva
• Dark hay girl - Elena Lushchik

"Bath Truce":

• Little partisan - Oleg Chudnitsov
• Long Partisan - Nikolai Tonsky
• German officer - Mikhail Kotov
• German sentry - Sergei Donskikh
• Blonde German - Alla Lebedeva
• Dark German - Maria Rusakova

The smell of wood and natural ventilation

For a long time, steam rooms in Rus' were built exclusively from natural wood. And no wonder, because this material “breathes”, has different healing properties depending on the type of wood, and creates a special “bath” atmosphere. All this was so important that the logs themselves were not processed in any way. And let it be that the bathhouses dried out greatly after only 5 years and burned generously. A new bathhouse was just being built - that’s all.

Today, building a bathhouse from a log house is not a cheap pleasure. That’s why the logs are necessarily treated with special bioprotection so that some beetle doesn’t eat them later, with fire protection to avoid a fire in the future, and even the inter-crown cracks are foamed with the latest fashionable sealant - after all, a bird will pull out the tow.

As a result, we no longer get “breathing walls”, but, on the contrary, chemically treated ones. Steaming in such a bathhouse is no longer so beneficial for health, and is not at all according to tradition.

Therefore, skilled bathhouse attendants get out of the situation this way: they cover the walls of the steam room with natural clapboard, slab or block house, where massive and porous wood is used. And additional ventilation is installed - it’s impossible without it. In principle, with effort, the “Old Russian bathhouse atmosphere” is more realistic to achieve.

Of course, everything is individual: some people won’t recognize an ordinary block house with frame walls, while others will literally begin to suffocate in it. Therefore, true connoisseurs of baths try to build their steam rooms from real solid timber, constantly arguing with their like-minded people about the benefits of natural ventilation.

Filming[ | ]

In the credits of the film, the authors thank the residents of the village of Komyagino near Moscow, one of the Moscow saunas and the Usadba restaurant, which depicts a manor house in the second story of the film - this building is located in Moscow at Dolskaya Street, 10 on the territory of the Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve. , former chancellery building: “house of the specific department”, also known as the “House of Shkulev” - the poet F. S. Shkulev, who in the first years of Soviet power worked here as chairman of the presidium of the Lenin volost Council.

Flaws

Despite the huge number of positive aspects, the bathhouse also has its disadvantages. In particular, this applies to:

• Infection. When visiting public baths, there is a risk of infection by fungus or various bacteria. In a humid environment, pathogenic microorganisms actively multiply. To avoid this, it is recommended to use only your own rubber slippers. It is also better to bring your own towel from home.
• Deterioration of health. High temperature and humidity can lead to a jump in blood pressure and interruptions in heart function. That is why visiting the steam room for hypertension, heart attacks and other pathologies of the cardiovascular system is strictly prohibited. The same applies to people with serious kidney disease.
• Exacerbation of chronic diseases. A visit to the bathhouse can lead to old illnesses reminding themselves again.

When visiting the bathhouse, it is important not to overuse. At the first signs of deterioration in health, you must immediately leave the steam room. A few centuries ago, a person could spend several hours in a steam room. However, now, according to experts, such a long stay can cause irreparable harm to health.

Before taking the procedures, you should consult with your doctor, who will be able to weigh all the risks and recommend or advise against a steam room.

Criticism[ | ]

The film received negative reviews. The editor of “Video Guide” Mikhail Ivanov described the film as follows: “Ordinary erotica on the verge of soft porn, filmed with a pretense of humor”[3].

Film critic Sergei Kudryavtsev twice included the film in his anti-ratings, including as the worst film in a quarter of a century, assigning it 1 point out of 10 possible[4][5].

The Vestnik magazine, sharply criticizing all the sequels to Peculiarities that came out after the two original Hunting and Fishing, called this self-proclaimed continuation “vulgar and mediocre”:[6]

“Peculiarities of the Russian Bath” is completely impossible to watch. Any derogatory assessment will not be excessive. You can’t watch this film and don’t want to talk about it.

— Magazine “Bulletin”, No. 1, 2000

It was noted that the film was made in the genre of popular print, the work of the director and actors was assessed in polar ways - both as “amateur” [7] and as completely professional, with a negative assessment of the film:

This is not erotica, but almost pornography, brilliantly filmed with actors and actresses. Did we really need to gain artistic potential, open and improve VGIK, in order to then film something like this? But lovely Russian faces, wonderful, charming women. It’s meanness in using the purest Russian surroundings for what is, in principle, a non-Russian picture.

— S. N. Esin[8]

At the same time, Mikhail Trofimenkov noted that, although the film has nothing to do with Rogozhkin’s real “Features” about hunting and fishing, its appearance “did not shock”, and the film, with its euphemistic theme “about the bathhouse”, is more appropriate to them than the released sequels of Rogozhkin himself on the topic “about politics” or “about football”. And the choice of Viktor Bychkov for the role of Mitrich - an allusion to Kuzmich in Rogozhkin’s films from the real “Specialities” - film critic Lyubov Arkus considered it logical not only in connection with the image created by “Specialities”, but also with the type - “a real man, except maybe with a weirdo” ":

This weirdness also extends to his erotic charm - it seems that he, just like Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, will fall in love with a woman even for the bend of her little toe. Maybe this is why Viktor Bychkov has recently been so willingly invited to new Russian soft porn - be it “Bomb” or “Peculiarities of the Russian Bath”.

— Recent history of Russian cinema: A-I / Alexander Golutva, Lyubov Arkus. - SESSION, 2001. - 498 p. — page 179

Later, assessments of the film were made taking into account the time of its filming and the further film career of the creators - actors, producer and director, who would later make a number of festival films and “is believed to be able to ‘take on the weight’ of a full-fledged comedy.”[9]

An unofficial continuation of “Peculiarities of the National Hunt” in the soft porn genre. With horror you recognize Viktor Bychkov as the bathhouse attendant (in just three years he will receive the Golden Eagle award). The producer of “Bath”, Mikhail Babakhanov, is a man of an interesting destiny: throughout the 90s he filmed erotica of varying degrees of severity (“Sex Vampire in Russia”, “Orgasm at the chime”), and by the end of the 2000s he began to invest money in purely festival films Grymov and Khomeriki.

- film critic Dmitry Bunygin, Sobaka.ru magazine, 2013[10].

DJ of the Maximum radio station Alexander Abrakhimov, in his review of the television week from May 1 to May 7, 2000, described the showing of this film on the sixth central channel (then the TV-6 Moscow channel was on this frequency) as the main anti-event of the past seven days :

The most powerful impression for me was... the film “Peculiarities of the Russian Bath” (TV-6). The program says “erotic short stories.” If this is erotica, what then is pornography? I have never seen more clumsy vulgarity and obscenity[11].

The film is included in the List of films prohibited from public screening in the Republic of Belarus[12], and was also withdrawn from the rebroadcast of the Moscow TV-6 channel[13][14].

Tropes and cliches[edit]

• Give the hero your own name - about half of the characters. Among them is General Buldakov in the first film. Revelation at the refrigerator / Unbridled guesses - while at this base, the general used a different last name for the purpose of conspiracy.

Tropes about “Hunting”[edit]

• The inglorious nineties - a drunken monologue “You keep drinking and drinking, drinking and drinking... What, do you think Russia is over?! *shows everyone the cookie* Wooo!!!”
• They know it precisely for this - “If you want to live, you won’t get so excited...” (about a cow).
• Zoophile and drunken sex - just for fun. At the height of the feast, Kuzmich suggested that the Finn go to the neighboring village to visit the “heifers” (milkmaids), but he thought that he would go to the cows. However, Raivo himself was already in such a state that it didn’t matter to him. Moreover, “Kuzmich must be respected.” Well, at least the milkmaid turned out to be pretty... By the way, she was played by Haapasalo’s wife.

Tropes about “Fishing”[edit]

As they say, whatever you can do, pour it and drink it! The fate of vodka was tragic...

• Bathos. "Three hours! Three hours without a single bite! And then it all happened! Such a meal has begun! In ten minutes!.. - a boat full of the finest... rudd..."
• Literally understood words - when Kuzmich is asked why his employee is silent all the time, Kuzmich honestly answers: “He is not mine.” What to do, not only everyone can catch a gap in conversational speech, few people can do it.
• Instant sleeping pills are an aversion. They tried to put the general to sleep with Finnish sleeping pills: Ivolgin drank almost three cups of tea with seven tablets and went for a ride on a jet ski, and the main “lucky” Sergei only had a couple of sips.
• One-dimensional thinking - neither Semyonov nor the prosecutor thought of giving the longboat right/left rudder and leaving the line where the dynamite sticks were dropped.
• Revelation at the refrigerator - where and why did they pour the vodka? More details at the link.
• Go to SCREAM:

• In the same place: - “Semyonov, do what you want, BUT GET MY BOAT FROM THE BOTTOM!”

• It turned out to be reality. Ivolgin caught a whole bunch of fish alone (or he was helped by a cat who was in the same boat). At the same time, wondering where it all went.
• He arrived in the wrong city - having mixed up the stars (because only Kuzmich knew exactly where to sail, and he got drunk), the characters landed in Finland instead of Kuzmich’s cordon. He at least knows that he must sail to the old cordon “to Algol” (in any case, that’s what he says; whether he could “sail to Algol” and where the characters would sail at the same time will remain a mystery).

Tropes about “Hunting in Winter”[edit]

• A hot air balloon—Soloveitchik was flying in a plastic chair suspended from a bunch of weather balloons. It ended relatively well: he got away with a shrunken voice and a thrashing from the border guards.
• Freeze your tongue - two characters are frozen to one iron mug.

Tropes about “Politics”[edit]

• Personal curse - Vanya (Porechenkov) and Venya (Zibrov), who tried to destroy Ivolgin, swear culinaryly, especially adoring kefir in all forms (in a bucket, on a shelf, sour, boiled, fried, scorched and even wet). Other food products are also presented: “Stop smearing compote on the sky”, “We know how to cook cheese”, “We did just that, dessert with horseradish”, “That yogurt in the coat still got me hooked.” Justify: did some of their godfather strictly forbid them to swear and use a hairdryer, but “they still need to replace it with something, otherwise they will burst”?..

Paths around films[edit]

• Not getting along with weapons - often. Here you can see vodka being poured into the tank of a diesel submarine as fuel, missiles being launched with one button (and most importantly, a hit), and a Su-24 taking off after loading a cow into the Tu-22M3. Justify: the script is based on reducing army tales to the point of absurdity. Reliability plays not the first role here. Moreover, in some scenes the authenticity is precisely detailed - the bomber pilots do not discuss dropping the cow, since the flight recorder would have recorded their negotiations.

Participation of famous actors[ | ]

The film’s producer never hid his attitude, but noted that it was such a time (“and we also thought: if it’s on the central channels, then we can too”), while the film received a distribution certificate, was legally released on video cassettes and was even shown once on all-Russian central television (the premiere took place on the night of May 2-3, 2000 on the TV-6 channel)[15][16][11]. He also noted that the film, in the context of the decline of film production, was a purely commercial project, and, according to him, the videotapes were a huge success - the film outsold a number of American blockbusters:[17]

By the way, it’s a pity that this cannot be proven documented, but “Features of the Russian Bath” - I don’t know of other projects where the producer received four rubles for the invested ruble. Neither Boomer nor Channel One films ever received four to one. It was a purely commercial project. Some people saved themselves with TV series, but I saved myself with this. From a production point of view, this is the cheapest genre, which is always in demand. I tried to earn money. But if you offer me to do this now, I will refuse.

- film producer Mikhail Babakhanov[18]

Viktor Bychkov in an interview with AiF in 2014 said about the film that he simply did not know what would happen:[19]

There were no signs of trouble. Eh, if only I knew in advance what would happen... I insisted on Mitrich’s option, honestly worked 18 hours and, having received a fee, went home. After some time, they called me and invited me for two more days. And then the film came out... A kind of Russian erotica.

Alexander Pyatkov spoke about the film and filming in it:[20]

Completely “leftist” cunning producers decided to capitalize on the wave of success of Alexander Rogozhkin’s films, stole someone else’s title and made the film. In defense of the artists, I want to say that practically no films were made in our country at that time, but, as they say, we wanted to eat. Lyubochka [Tikhomirova] was charming - young, energetic... She undressed in front of the camera without a shadow of embarrassment.

Oksana Stashenko said that it was an ordinary acting job:[21][22]

It’s not that I’m ashamed of these films—my acting work there is very good—it’s another matter that it was presented as an erotic film. But, oddly enough, after this film, even serious directors paid attention to me, because I played my role well.

Lyuba Tikhomirova, for whom the film became her film debut, subsequently long, stubbornly and repeatedly refused to recognize this role[23].

But what about Rus'?

And in Russia, the bathhouse has always existed , at least according to the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea , who back in the 500s. wrote that the culture of ablution accompanies the ancient Slavs throughout their lives.

According to ancient descriptions, the bathhouse was a log structure with a fireplace, on the hot coals of which water was poured from time to time, which turned into steam. According to popular beliefs, the guardian of the bathhouse and its soul is the bannik - a completely naked old man, whose body is covered with broom leaves. Bannik was supposed to be cajoled from time to time by treating him to bread and salt, which once again emphasizes the respectful attitude of the Slavs towards the bathhouse itself and its “essence”, which they literally idolized.

Appearing on the territory of Russia back in the days of paganism, when people worshiped the cult of fire and water, both the bathhouse and the home were deeply revered by the Slavs, as noted in their works by researchers of Russian life I. Zabelin and A. Afanasyev . The bathhouse was not just a place where one could cleanse one’s body of dirt and take hygienic procedures, but also a kind of medical and preventive institution where people of the ancient medical specialty could put any sick person back on his feet.

In turn, the chronicles of the X–XIII centuries. indicate the widespread use of the bathhouse among the Eastern Slavs, starting from the 5th–6th centuries, when it was affectionately called movnitsa, mov, mylnya and vlaznya. And even with the baptism of Rus', when the church began an active struggle against folk healers and all sorts of superstitions, the bathhouse did not cease to exist, but only strengthened its influence, as it became a place for mandatory visiting before performing the most important church rituals - baptism, wedding, communion and others .

Notes[ | ]

1. Mikhail Trofimenkov - Shoot and score // Kommersant-Vlast magazine, No. 20 dated 05/26/2008, p. 60
2. Recent history of Russian cinema: 1992-1996 / Leonid Popov, Lyubov Arkus. — SESSION, 2002—523 p. — page 571
3. Features of the Russian bath // Video Guide
4. The worst Russian films in a quarter of a century
5. The worst films I saw in 2013
6. Vestnik magazine video club
7. Alexander Levintov - A movie made with a finger (review of the comedy for adults “Features of the Russian Bath”) // Almanac “Swan”, No. 154, January 30, 2000
8. Sergei Nikolaevich Esin - At the turn of the century: diary of the rector, 2002. - 588 p.
9. Money, vodka and Hamlet // Novaya Gazeta, No. 33, May 4, 2006
10. Dmitry Bunygin - Make me unsee it: St. Petersburg in trash cinema // Sobaka.ru, 2013
11. ↑ 1 2
    TV RATING.
    To Caesar - what is Caesar's... (undefined)
    . Culture (May 11, 2000).
12. Black film list: which films are banned in Belarus // Interfax, 2009
13. ON-LINE Society (undefined)
    . BelGazeta (February 12, 2001).
14. It's time to weed the "strawberries" (undefined)
    . Belarus today (April 28, 2001).

15. 
    (undefined)
    . 7 days. - “TV6 Moscow 00:55 Film “Features of the Russian bath...”. Premiere! Cinema TV-6".

16. TV program for the week from May 1 to May 7, 2000 (unspecified)
    . Truth (April 27, 2000). - “TV-6 0:55 “Features of the Russian bath...”.”
17. A presentation of the video release of the film “Features of Bath Policy, or Bath-2” took place // NEWSru.com, September 26, 2000
18. We ourselves wrote the law on pornography // Gazeta.ru, 08/12/2005
19. Viktor Bychkov: “I said everything about Kuzmich!” // Arguments and facts, 09/04/2017
20. Evelina Vetrova - Lyubov Tikhomirova from the series “Newlyweds” starred in porn // Interlocutor, January 26, 2012
21. Oksana Stashenko: “I calmly undress at work” // “Russia 1”, December 14, 2005
22. Oksana Stashenko: Pierre Richard disappointed me // Express newspaper, June 26, 2008
23. Lanskaya Inessa.
    Lyubov Tikhomirova atones for the sins of her youth
    (undefined)
    . Express newspaper (July 14, 2008). Date accessed: May 3, 2020.

Broom for Russian bath

The main character of the Russian bathhouse is the broom. To create a lush, fragrant and light, like a fan, broom is a whole science. The branches are harvested at a certain time and dried in the shade in the breeze. Then it retains freshness and healing properties for a long time. The healing effects of a broom depend on the tree from which it was made.

“Birch broom absorbs sweat like a sponge, its essential oils have a beneficial effect on the lungs and skin. Oak builds up steam, improves blood circulation, relieves neurological and muscle pain. Linden is useful for colds. Coniferous - fir, spruce, cedar, juniper - salvation from all ailments. But not everyone can tolerate such “acupuncture,” says our expert.