The Skiers

The joy is in the detail of this engaging short about the veteran Finnish solider-skiers of the Winter War. It’s in the detail of a hand, turning in close up in front of the camera, the lines etched on it bearing the weight of the years. It’s in the testimony of these men, now elderly but still skiing, recalling the things their hands and, by extension, themselves have experienced down the years.

By considering the hand in close-up John Webster keeps his documentary simple and to the point. One recalls war through his hand – “Not a trigger,” he says “radio operator”, another contemplates how many members of his family he has caressed down the years.

“Death is a part of life,” one says, philosophically, but it is the life that is very much the thing here. A gracefully shot, contemplative celebration of these men’s energy and spirit as they age.