Tuntematon sotilas

This new version of Tuntematon Sotilas is very different from the earlier one made during the fifties, when Finland still had vivid memories from the war. In Mollberg's version there are less humour, and in addition to this there are nothing left of the nationalism, that we are used to connect with this kind of movies. Tuntematon Sotilas reflects about the situation of the soldier and the front-men as a mass. Instead of pathetic patriotism the film tells about the war without great gestures and bloody action scenes. The director keeps Väinö Linna's very critical outlook on the world.

This movie is following a Finnish platoon in Finlands struggle against Soviet Union in the Continuation War starting in 1942. In the beginning the men are conscripts who are sent to the front when Finland attacks SU in hope of getting back the area that SU took from Finland in Winter War in 1940. In the beginning Finland is victorious but then the luck turns... Finland has to start its retreat. The men are just 19-year-old boys when the war starts, but in the end they are heroes who kept the Finland independent despite of the massive Soviet Army.

Rauni Mollberg's (from now on referred to as 'Molle') Tuntematon Sotilas has been left far behind in fame to its predecessor, that of Edwin Laine's Tuntematon Sotilas from 1955. This is not surprising as the newer movie lacks the sentiment that is almost omnipresent in the older version. Despite this, is Molle's version more faithful to the original novel by Väinö Linna who was himself involved in making of the new version. Both movies however deserve their place, in Edwin Laine's time there was a need for high national epic but as the times changed a new version was also welcome and maybe even in demand.

Molle's version deserves perhaps more praise and attention than it has been used to have, but also criticism. The newer version is no way meant to be 'a better' version but rather an alternative account of the psychological reality of a man. Therefore I call it an antithesis, it is impossible to see the newer version without comparing it to the all too familiar older version. You actually need to watch the film several times before it really opens to you in the way Molle had intended it. Tuntematon Sotilas is a war film, but the highlight is upon the people who fought in there, both Finns and Russians, who are brought to suffer the very same meat-grinder. Parts of it are funny, parts of it are disgusting.

What is left to a lesser notion is historicity, the weapons and uniforms are from the second world war but you should not expect them to appear in correct order. For the weapon freaks be it informed that the same KV-1's appear as both Finnish and Soviet tanks. For those who already know everything that has been written about the Continuation War this movie does not offer any historical references, this time it is all literature from the ground view. Nevertheless this is one of the best war films there is, perhaps there is a conscious focus and perhaps there is some message, but the weight of the overall work will just make you silent.

If you are going to see this film, make sure you are watching a quality copy. Many dark scenes have become incomprehensible in poor quality VHS transfers. The darkness is essential visual effect in Molle's version.

This film is based on Väinö Linna's novel "Unknown soldier", but the style of the movie differs dramatically from the style of the book. Linna tells his story with bitter black humour and he has war heroes, Koskela & Rokka for example. Mollberg's version has neither heroes nor humour. Instead his movie is starred by blood and terror. Linna awakens, Mollberg silences.

In the genre of war movies Mollberg's work is right on top, it has both artistic and realistic merits, for instance The bridge over the River Kwai lacks the latter. The way Mollberg shows his characters is, however, little too straightforward; Everyone is described thru one mental quality, Lehto is always cynical etc. The mythic silence that surrounds Koskela grows to the astronomical. On the other hand Mollberg succeeds in filming the fear and anger.

The greatest finnish film ever made.

I'm writing this 19 years after I saw Mollberg's Unknown Soldier in Helsinki's Bristol Theatre. However, seeing the original 1955 film somewhat recently, and being comparative to the Väinö Linna historical novel, it raised memories of that 1985 rendition. Mollberg certainly made a far superior film as far as cinematography and aesthetic realism is concerned. He used a familiar technique of confusion in combat by utilizing the cameraman on foot, and running. Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan had these effects in 1998, but I'm not insinuating that Rauni Mollberg invented it. Perhaps Elem Klimov in "Come and See" (Soviet Union, 1985) had these stylistic effects. That USSR film, in my opinion, is the most anti-war film ever made. As far as Finnish war films, I would recommend "Talvisota" (Winter War)(1989), and "Täällä Pohjantähdenalla" (Here Under the North Star)(1968), with a sequel in 1971 titled "Akseli ja Elina". These last three are indicative of the tragedy of the Finnish Civil War, and WW2, and how they affected not only a family, but various social classes of society in Finland. This phenomenon of class hatred exists today in Finland.

Rauni Mollberg's 1985 version of the Unknown Soldier also included this biased left-wing attitude towards the soldiers, but especially officers of the Russo-Finnish wars. Essentially, in the theatre and film world of 1970's and 1980's Finland, one had to be the figurative "Communist." Fortunately that has changed since, at least a bit.

Having rambled, "Unknown Soldier" (1985) and the aforementioned film reviews, really only interest certain film historians, as well as historians of Soviet-Finnish politics. I hope that I gave you some insight.

Respectfully, Timppa