Unknown Soldier - Kampf ums Vaterland

The people of Finland, me included, had high expectations for the third film adaptation of Väinö Linna's novel Tuntematon Sotilas (The Unknown Soldier), boldly made by celebrated Finnish director Aku Louhimies for the 100-year anniversary of Finland's independence. I tried my best to block all positive and negative expectations out of my mind, so that I could watch the film with an open mind and form my own opinions. That isn't an easy job, as this story is something very iconic and personal to the Finnish people. After seeing the film and doing a lot of analyzing and over-analyzing about what parts I liked and didn't like, the strongest thought I have is still the one that I had for the movie's entire three-hour run time and in the moments after it: this movie is pretty great.

Everything that I say should be taken with a large grain of salt, as I haven't read the original novel. Therefore my opinions are based partially on a comparison with the original movie from 1955, and mostly on how I liked this as a film of its own and as a part of Finnish culture. The directing by Louhimies is decent, as modern film technology allows for more intense action sequences and realistic sound effects, thus capturing the atmosphere of war well. At times, the modern style was a bit more polished and Hollywood- style than I would've liked - for example I wasn't a big fan of the instrumental soundtrack, which relied on slightly cliché string melodies that took away from the gritty and realistic story. That is a minor complaint though, as for the most part the film did a good job portraying the story in a more modern fashion. Also, it was one of the most justifiable cases for a three-hour run time that I have ever seen - everything was relevant for the plot and character development, and I didn't feel especially bored even once.

The soul of The Unknown Soldier has always been considered to be in the characters, many of whom have a legendary status in Finnish culture. The casting department did an excellent job in finding suitable actors for these roles, as some of the characters are just as interesting or even better than their counterparts in the original film. A good example is lieutenant Koskela, wonderfully played by Jussi Vatanen, who is fleshed out and fascinating to follow throughout the film. Eero Aho fills the shoes of his predecessor Reino Tolvanen amazingly in the iconic role of corporal Antero Rokka, and Hannes Suominen is incredibly similar in his mannerisms to the original film version of the character Vanhala. I was a bit skeptic about the romantic subplot involving the character Kariluoto shown in the trailers, but the film did a great job with it. Having one of the major characters missing someone they truly loved back home added depth to his motivations, making it more relatable when considering what the soldiers were fighting for - and what they risked losing.

The actors must have had a hard job pulling off dialects that aren't typical for today's Finland, but most of them did a great job with it. I was a bit let down by the casting of Aku Hirviniemi as corporal Hietanen, as I felt he didn't come anywhere near the original film's Hietanen in terms of likability and character development. I was also a bit annoyed by the cameo of Finnish teen idol Robin, which took away from the emotion and darkness of an otherwise powerful scene in my opinion. But again, these complaints are small, especially in comparison to everything that the film succeeded in.

In many aspects, the original movie is better, but Louhimies's version also rises higher in quite a few categories. While the 1955 film is a great gritty exploration of Finnish soldiers on the front, the 2017 adaptation is more deep and layered. We see the characters grow through grim moments of pain as well as warm moments of humorous interaction, while certain scenes and story lines provoke thoughts of the larger picture at hand - what the job that soldiers like that did for Finland truly means. As a Finn, I can't view a film like this purely objectively, so the fact that it makes me emotional and grateful of my homeland adds very much to my opinion of the movie. Many moments in the film made me think about the society Finland has today, and how we have it all because men just like the fictional yet realistic characters in this movie once fought to keep Finland independent. That is what makes this film truly powerful and though-provoking, and I admire Aku Louhimies for managing to subtly convey that message into his film without getting over-patriotic about it.

Although the movie has an almost celebratory tone at times (which is proper considering the year of its release), it certainly doesn't fall into the trap of over-romanticizing or glorifying war. Though there are moments of heroics and bravery, there are themes of cowardice, conflict within the Finnish side and human cruelty throughout the film. It gives a gripping account on the lives of Finnish soldiers during the Continuation War, and doesn't try to hide painful facts like Finland's partnership with Nazi Germany or the one-time execution of own troops for disobeying commands. All in all, Louhimies's films manages to capture the audience with a deep and powerful story, filled with memorable characters, great acting and a brutally honest depiction of war.

First of all, this movie might not be for everybody. There are no super heroes, no super villains, no glorifying the war; it's a movie about the war between Finland and USSR that took place some 70+ years ago (resulting over 300 000 dead).

The film is a little slow paced, so if you're into Rambo and that sort of stuff, don't bother. If you don't know anything about the history between these two countries, it might feel a bit long-winded and boring. In order to get the most out of it, I suggest you to take a look at "Winter" and "Continuation War" in Wikipedia for example.

Special effects, acting, directing, music were all good and on par with bigger productions. Compared to the two previous versions of the same movie, this one has a darker tone to it and is a little bit "less national" which, in my opinion, is a good thing.

It's not the best movie I ever saw, but a good solid 8 out of 10.

A powerful movie of a powerful story with many lawyers. Authentic, illustrating the pain and brokenness that resulted from the "all or nothing" war. A visually compelling movie about people, about love of your country, and about the love of your family. Heroes, like my grandparents, deserve movies like this that keep remembering the full story.

Absolutely Brilliant.!! This is a movie for WW2 history buffs as it provides authenticity and accuracy.

This WW2 movie is far better than anything i have seen coming out of Hollywood with their multi-million dollar budgets.

The movie is raw and gutsy and holds no barriers in showing the realities of war. Friendships and relationship destroyed in war... the frustrations, the agony, the carnage and the futility are all very accurately dramatized...

Speaking of accuracy, this has to be the best... authentic uniforms, weapons and military hardware. The forest warfare was filmed very close to the actual battlefields. The landscape you see is exactly that of the battles between Russia and Finland providing impeccable authenticity. I do however question the Russian tanks... I am not sure of the accuracy there as in my eyes, the shape of the tank did not quite look right for the T-34's so common in 1944, there year this movie is set. , The T34 built from 1940 and widely used in Finland. I think they are the much earlier T28's which almost entirely ceased use by 1941 and were not used in Finland. Given the movies in Finnish and Russia had previously supplied T28, I think the latter is more likely, albeit slightly modified.

The acting and camera work was 100% brilliant.

I give it a solid 10 stars !!

A must watch for fans of history and World War 2. An overview of a lesser known theatre of war, done without the glorification of war itself. You can really see why it is Finland's most expensive movie, the combat scenes are amazing, the landscapes, uniforms and weapons authentic. Very different from Hollywood-styled movies and really makes you think about the war as a whole, not only combat and fighting, but the way it affects individuals and the community, Again a must watch!