Täällä Pohjantähden alla

It's not in fact a movie about the Finnish civil war, but a movie about the social changes that took place in Finland before Finland claimed its independence.

The movie and novel it's based upon are both important, since they bring out the viewpoint of the losing side of the civil war, into which the social changes eventually led. Finnish people bore the scars of the civil war for many decades, and this novel was the first one to take upon the task of healing those scars.

The working class is being pressed on the edge. They are barely more than serfs and have no means of claiming the land they're cultivating and taking care of. The conditions in Finland are fluctuating at best, since the country is still an autonomic part of Russia with it's sovereign rights being disputed. The movie tells of a certain Koskela family trying to make a secure living under these circumstances on the fields they've cleared of the swamps and in the house they built from trees growing in the forests.

Each and every Finn should watch this movie to understand their own roots a lot better!

In 1955 director Edvin Laine adapted Väinö Linna's beloved WWII novel The Unknown Soldier and the result is unquestionably the most celebrated work of Finnish cinema. 13 years later he matched its success with another adaptation of Linna's novel; this time a monumental trilogy about the birth and development of a nation; Here Under the Northern Star. The movie was a gigantic hit with the critics and the audiences alike and is still regarded as the most popular classic after The Unknown Soldier.

The story, starting just before Finland gains its independence, is a multi-generation spanning history of a newly independent nation dealing with inner turmoil, told through the eyes of a little community, with an emphasis on the Koskela-family. The first half of the film is set around Jussi Koskela, a poor, mild-mannered man who's trying to get ahead in life, while the second half mostly revolves around Jussi's son: Akseli, a passionate and fiery-tempered young man also trying to get ahead in life, but by far more radical ways than his father. The main theme is the class struggle between the rich and the poor (the "whites" and the "reds") which would eventually escalate to a full-blown, bitter, civil war. Although not forgetting the joys of life, like in the form of the tender romance between Akseli and Elina.

While the examination of what lead to the conflict is equally important, the civil war takes the major part of the film. What makes this the definitive portrait of the war, is that, while it is told from the reds' point-of-view, it doesn't "choose sides", rather just documents a national tragedy. Atrocities and war crimes toward civilians are done by both sides and the "trials" held during and after the war are more about settling personal vendettas than actually passing justice. Incidentally the best moments of the movie are in the last quarter when the drama reaches its harrowing and heartbreaking conclusion.

Most of the films excellence must be attributed to the masterful source novel, but even so, just the fact that this is so well adapted is praiseworthy in itself. The essential parts of the book have translated well to the screen (in content, but also in Linna's slyly sardonic tone) and the pacing is excellent, the film moves on a brisk pace for a 190 minute epic. It's visually appealing, not exactly stunning, but definitely well-shot and musically memorable. On the other hand, the films major weakness lies in the badly dated acting. The main players are all solid; some, like Aarno Sulkanen (as Akseli) are even great; but unfortunately many of the minor players range from plain hammy to grating "scenery-chewing", but that one complaint aside, the film is captivating, incredibly touching, unforgettable achievement..

Finnish cinema does not get more essential than this. If you ever have the chance to see it I highly recommend giving it a try.

Täällä Pohjantähden alla (1968) tells the history as it happened.The story starts from the 1890's and later it moves to the year 1918.That was the year of the civil war in Finland.The Red Guard and The White Guard are the two sides and they start brutally killing each other.The movie concentrates on the side that lost, The Reds.It shows us The Koskela family with the hardworking tenant farmer Jussi (Risto Taulo) as the head of the family.His wife is Alma (Anja Pohjola).Paavo Pentikäinen is August and Eero Keskitalo is Aleksis.The main part has been given to Akseli Koskela, who's brilliantly played by Aarno Sulkanen.The movie is based on the first two books of the novel trilogy written by Väinö Linna.It was directed by Edvin Laine just like other Linna novel Tuntematon sotilas.There are also some actors who were in both of those movies.There are Matti Ranin (Lauri Salpakari), Veikko Sinisalo (Anton Kustaa Laurila), Kaarlo Halttunen (Preeti Leppänen), Olavi Ahonen (Lauri Kivioja), Kosti Klemelä (Rural police chief), Mikko Niskanen (Military judge) and Tapio Hämäläinen (E.Hellberg).Other names in the movie include Titta Karakorpi (Elina Koskela), Kalevi Kahra (Tailor Adolf Halme), Rose-Marie Precht (Ellen Salpakari), Kauko Helovirta (Otto Kivivuori), Elsa Turakainen (Henna Leppänen), Juhani Kumpulainen (A.Mellola), Asta Backman (Emma Halme), Heikki Kinnunen (Valenti Leppänen), Helge Herala (Vihtori Kivioja), Jyrki Kovaleff (Aadolf Heino), Ville Salminen (Granlund), Arvo Lehesmaa (Jalmari Kolu) and in smaller parts Katriina and Marjatta Rinne and Eila Roine.Matti Kassila is the narrator and he was also writing this movie.Each and every one of the actors does a great job.The movie is in many parts touching.It hurts to watch all that brutal killing, the executions.But then there's also the beautiful love story of Akseli and Elina.The beautiful tunes of 'Akselin ja Elinan häävalssi' can be heard in some parts.Täällä Pohjantähden alla is an important movie.It shows us the phase of history that should not be forgotten.

While director Edvin Laine's adaptation of "The Unknown Soldier" is often considered to be a definitive example of Finnish cinema, his 1968 masterpiece deserves attention as well. The art of cinema made some advances in the decade between these two films, and it shows. While some parts are still suffering from the old style of filmmaking, i.e., trying to create a movie like it is a theatre production (static camera, characters entering a location and delivering their lines like straight from a book), other parts are great and visually interesting. Especially lighting deserves praise: imagine an early 20th century village in rural Finland without much electricity, and this is what comes to mind. Especially some of the night scenes are simply beautiful to look at with the newest high-definition remaster.

The first part of the film marches on at breakneck speed. As some 20 years of story are compressed into roughly one hour of film, there are some jarring time jumps if you do not know the book, lack the historical knowledge, or simply fail to pay attention to every scene. The tone of the film is also something to be praised. It starts with light-hearted though dramatic scenes, with plenty of humorous exchanges and musical scores. Once the civil war breaks out, this lightness is tossed out and the horrible events are depicted almost without any score, in a matter-of-fact, documentary-style.

"Täällä Pohjantähden Alla" is a classic that everyone should see at least once.

Althought I didn't want to see this film, I did have to look it anyway in the history class, because we went throug Finlands civil war. It's about Finlands civil war (surprise..), when the red and white are fighting. Well... It is pretty good film actually... Althougt I don't like war films which tell about Finlands wars...