Rukajärven tie

A good portrayal of the Finno-Russian conflict. What is really thrilling is that it also, in my opinion, gives a good view of the Finish character referred to as "SISU". The movie also isn't plagued by the typical American film clichés. Don't miss this one, and I hope that subtitling outside Scandinavia is good enough to do the Finnish soldiers justice. Their temperament really comes alive with their lines.

This movie has gathered huge crowds in Finland, but as an outsider with only a superficial grasp of Finnish history you loose a lot of the points.

Focusing on a small Finnish bicycle unit as they penetrate into Russian held territory in 1941 the film has a lot of poetic moments and a high degree of tension in some scenes. Just seeing combat from a Finnish perspective is interesting for anyone brought up on mainstream American war tales, but there are problems...

As said in another comment, there is a lack of realism in the unit tactics displayed and some fighting scenes are ridiculous (especially the last unnecessary heroic showdown). Given that the soldiers portrayed are veterans of the Winter War they do *not* act sensible.

Well, that might be a minor point had it attempted a more thorough investigation of the motives of the soldiers and the inherent conflicts that must arise given the situation. Instead it centers on a banal lovestory as seen many times before in Northern European films. Mandatory nakedness, melancholia and a touch og golden light is the name of the game. Argh!

For those of you that don't know, Finland was an ally of Germany at this point, though they probably had no other choice, and the fighting in this film is not heroically defensive, but offensive. Nationalist sentiment was high at this point and just a tiny bit racist, ala the German kind. Had it more explicitly discussed these topics and the views of the soldiers in the unit, it might be more interesting for a foreign audience and in the end more balanced.

Instead it avoids discussing if there was a real need for the Continuation War and the huge drains it made on Finland. There are attempts at portraying conflicts among soldiers of different background, but no more.

As it goes it's mainly a crowd pleaser for the Finnish audience, showing that war is hell, love triumphs and the Finns were heroic, after all (which they were, but was it worth the losses?).

It's a shame they made a "Hollywood" movie out of it. Even though it does tell something about the situation Finland was in during that time, the movie looks like one made in Hollywood.

The battle scenes were unrealistic with the characters heroically running in the forest even though the air is full of bullets and kill many of the Russians while at it (pretty much like a Rambo or Commando but not that far out). Also, the love story plays too big a role in the movie.

I don't mean it's a bad movie but if you want to really get an idea of the Winter War or the Continuation War, try to see The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas, 1955) or The Winter War (Talvisota) or read the books.

Of the American depictions of war (in films), only Band of Brothers comes close to what The Unknown Soldier and The Winter War deliver.

Before anyone can judge this movie, PLEASE take the time to consider others comments.

Well I personally love the movie dearly. It is in my blood, literally. A few years back my mother and I were invited to see this film at the Finnish Embassy in Ottawa. My mother being a Finlander thought this would be an interesting movie. We both very much enjoyed it and were dually haunted by this film. When my mother went back to Finland the other year to visit relatives with her mother, they discovered the true significance of this movie. It turns out that this movie is actually about my mothers grandfather. So my great grandfather and really as I loved this movie, it is a real understatement to what happened to him during the war. His real name was Perkkola Savinainen and the movie hardly shows his real escapades, or even his friendship to the Fin President, Mannerhaim. Even after the war, of what happened to my family, having to escape into Sweden to escape from being shipped to Siberia. This movie is honestly I believe a very very excellent movie and I will never forget it. Liisa Savinainen Mountain

I wrote the above comment in 2006 and as I have recently read through some of the comments, which I had not done before, I noticed that many people questioned the story and it's liability. PLEASE read other comments before you judge this movie, for it is a true story, again based on my great grandfather. I would really appreciate anyone not dismissing the plausibility of the story. The real events of that war are beyond the tellings of a movie. If anyone would truly like to know how he died, was from given the wrong blood years later after the war. He had been shot through the head, then skied it was about 50 miles, then received the transfusion of the wrong type.

I do understand that this movie is one of events that people don't really believe and yes I do find it is an understatement. I have several pictures from his tasks during the war.

It must be remembered that in Finnish history, the suffered many wars between both Russia and Sweden, the Germans and others. The Finns didn't support the Nazis but if your country is forced to defend themselves, and there was scarce any money for weapons.. The Germans did abuse the Finns, as many were sent to Italy. The numbers the Finns faced against the Russians sometimes were 20-1 and not in the Finns favour. War truly is a hard thing, and this movie tried to show something that had happened that many didn't know of.

Perhaps other readers may understand that it was not necessarily the wish of my family to have everything played over for us again. My grandfather and great uncle were in his platoon that were featured in the movie, though the names and relations were changed, I was able to watch them fight and suffer just like I was actually there.

Ok, "Rukajärven tie" was indeed a great war-film with several astounding scenes, but something started to annoy me in the latter half of the film. Oh yeah: why do the "Ryssäs" die like flies and Finnish soldiers in slow-motion, like real heroes (which don't simply exist in war). Well, this is another veteran-pleaser from writer Antti Tuuri, but a lot better than "Talvisota" (Winter War). Very good, but not perfect.