pertti.jarla

Tali-Ihantala 1944 tells the story of the climactic final battles of the Finnish-Russian Continuation war. The official, polished story, the kind you would expect some veterans organization to approve: the major events of the battle are shown in chronological order. We see the action of infantry, tanks, long range recon patrols, artillery, air force, and different levels of command. All soldiers and officers behave well and correctly, there is no bad behavior or cowardice whatsoever.

This is one of the films major problems: the clean and tidy behavior of the troops is very likely historically inaccurate and false, but it is also very bad drama. We see endless orders, discussions and briefings without any conflict or tension between the characters. And the cast is huge: most people have only one or two scenes, they come and go without anyone developing any real character (Olli Ikonen perhaps comes closest as General Major Vihma). You cannot develop much compassion to these fighting and dying men when you don't know anything about them. The dialogue is poor: people describe the tactical situation in a textbook manner, and most attempts at more casual conversation fall laughably flat. "So, you receive your baptism of fire now!"

The obvious budget limitations have been commented by other reviewers. This film is a failure, recommended for fans of T 34 and KV tanks.

It is sad that the most widely distributed version of this Yugoslavian war epic "Bitka na Neretvi" is the 102 minute version edited and dubbed in USA by Commonwealth United Films. This version, known as "The Battle of Neretva" has been shortened by a full hour. It looks a bit like a long trailer, offering samples of what is obviously a big scale, melodramatic giant of a film, like "The Longest Day". At times the re-editing looks like it has been made with an axe, some dialogue being cut from the middle of a sentence.

I have just seen, however, a longer Commonwealth version: 127 minutes, 25 minutes longer. This is a far superior version, professionally edited into a coherent, well flowing narrative. It seems that the 102 minute "stub" has been edited from this. I can only imagine how much deeper the characterization would be with the 40 minutes still missing from the original. The Italian and German versions are longer than this 127 minute version, and they have been released on DVD. Still, for anyone preferring an English translation, this could be the best version around. Sadly it only seems to be available on VHS.

The previous commentator needn't worry any more: all 8 episodes of Big Breadwinner Hog have been released on DVD. Tough gangster stories have been in fashion for years, and this release should please any friend of "Get Carter" and those Guy Ritchie movies. Many classic 60's shows have disappointed me, but the Hog has stood the test of time well: I consider it one of the very best 60's TV dramas.

I've never heard of the writer/producer Robin Chapman before. After seeing this and his earlier gangster saga, Spindoe, I am really impressed by his work. He manages to write violent and tough, yet theatrically literate and intelligent drama. In fact his background is in theater.

Big Breadwinner Hog (Peter Egan) ignites a gangland war in a big city, just like Spindoe before him. He is a violent mod, full of arrogance and energy. The series gives just about equal time to the desperate misadventures of the drunk ex-mercenary Ackerman (Donald Burton). On top of the criminal hierarchy sits the methodically minded sadist Lennox (Timothy West). All three give good performances (Burton may be on the verge of overacting), especially Timothy West is magnificent.

The clashes of these three personalities make for some exciting and entertaining viewing. The show is infamous for its violence, and the characters sure bleed more than in other British (or American) TV shows of the time. There is, however, dark humor as well. In fact the victim of the famous acid attack provides the comic relief in the next episode! This mixing of humor into the darkest moments should be something familiar to modern viewers.

All in all, Big Breadwinner Hog is a great show. Unfortunately it is a bit cheaply produced compared to shows like The Saint. If you can overlook such trivialities, I strongly recommend watching it. I wonder if others enjoy this as much as I did?