Le soldat inconnu

I find the 1985 version of "Tuntematon sotilas" far superior over the older version. The new version is much more realistic in its description of the war. The actors are of real age instead of the original movie. Also all the battle scenes really give the feeling of chaos when defensive lines are shattered and despair takes over the men.

The film describes continuation war with good accuracy. Also I like how the characters develop over the film. At start the green men who are panicking easily and so afraid of the enemy who they don't even see... To the heroic defensive battles against Russian tank hordes at the end.

Many of the since-unknown actors have now become main pillars of Finnish movies and entertainment. Mollberg's idea of using less famous people than Laine did in his version works. When movie was released the faces weren't familiar - and so the characters are much more neutral.

All-in-all I consider the 1985 Tuntematon sotilas as one of the best and realistic war movies ever made, close to second is "Winter War" - another Finnish war movie.

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.

Historically accurate showing Finnish Motti tactics. I was impressed with that in itself. "A hiding" was all I could look for in this movie and found it. Good Directing, decent acting, makes for a historically accurate foreign made film

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

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.