UNKNOWN SOLDIER (3) vs. 1944 (14)

 

PLOT

                “Unknown Soldier” is considered the greatest Finnish war movie.  It is based on the very  popular novel by Vanno Linna.  This is the third movie based on the novel.  This one was released in 2017.  It covers a company of soldiers from call up to armistice in the Continuation War of 1941-44.  The naïve, enthusiastic, green soldiers join the Germans in invading the Soviet Union and they retreat later as seasoned veterans.  Many of them do not survive.  It is a small unit movie and concentrates on a few of the soldiers.  Theirs is a loose camaraderie as they keep their spirits up until the end when retreat often is the better option than valor.  The movie is not big on the big picture and the superior officers exist mainly to be disobeyed.  Unlike most in this tournament, the main characters are well-developed and include several appealing individuals.  This makes the unpredictable deaths hard.  The combat is not ultra, but it is realistically brutal.  GRADE  =  A  (9)

                “1944” is an Estonian movie released in 2015.  The film highlights the polarizing aspect of WWI for Estonia.  The country provided reluctant warriors for both the Germans and the Soviets.  The first half of the movie covers a unit in the German army, focusing on a soldier named Karl.  This half also introduces his mates and follows them through several battles.  They eventually run into an Estonian unit fighting with the Red Army.  At this point, in a nifty twist, the movie begins to follow the other “traitors”.  This half focuses on Juri.  There is a major plot development involving a letter and a huge coincidence, but it is not meant to be a true story.  And it has a very powerful ending.  “1944” does an excellent job covering both sides and is impartial.  The two main characters are both heroic.  The combat is very good and spaced out well.  The plot gets extra credit for being different from your average war film.  GRADE  =  A  (9)

ACTING

                The acting in “Unknown Soldier” is stellar.  The main character is a veteran soldier named Rokka who is an anti-hero in the mold of Sgt. Steiner from “Cross of Iron”.  He has a real problem with authority and often disobeys orders and is insubordinate.  Based on the movie, Rokka is just an extreme example of the discipline averse Finnish army.  Eero Aho gives one of the best performances I have seen in a war movie as Rokka.  He won the Jussi Award for Best Actor.  The rest of the cast is very good.  The principal characters get no back-stories, but the actors create personality types that differentiate the roles.  GRADE  =  A (9)

                “1944” is a two-man affair and Kaspar Velberg (Karl) and Kristjan Ukskula (Juri) are outstanding.  Neither is a prominent actor, even in Finland.  But their portrayals of the two men makes your heart go out to them.  The supporting cast is good.  There is a hissable villain who is not cartoonish.   GRADE  =  B (8)

CLICHES

                “Unknown Soldier” is a “who will survive?” movie, but the deaths are anything but cliché.  Although it is also a classic small unit movie, there is no dysfunction within the unit.  The featured unit members include some familiar stereotypes like the cheerful rube, the ambitious officer, the cynical veteran, the slimy black marketeer.  But the arcs of these men is not predictable and no one gets a redemption arc.  One gets married, but goes back to the unit because of the movie trope of bros before hoes.  The movie does break the trope that there are no insects in war movies because flies make several appearances.  And tanks fire their machine guns as well as their main guns!  GRADE  =  B (8)

                “1944” because of the nature of its plot avoids most of the traditional cliches.  There are twin brothers and one has promised to look out for the other.  There is an evil officer who orders the killing of prisoners.  GRADE  =  A (9)

COMBAT

                There is about 38 minutes of combat in “Unknown Soldier”.  Given that the movie is 3 hours long, this means that although there is a lot of combat, but it does not dominate the film.  There are long stretches without any action.  But when it kicks in, it is very good.  It is realistic and is not combat porn.  Much of it is in forest environments and the hand-held camerawork puts you in the action.  The sound effects are good. There is a lot of whizzing in the movie.  The tactics are appropriate.  Bunkers are taken out with explosives.  Russian tanks are accurately depicted and defended against.  The thing that stands out is the randomness of the deaths.  It is one of the few war movies that shows looting of bodies.  GRADE  =  B (8)

                “1944” has 17 minutes of combat and it is high quality.  The first is a Soviet assault on their trenches, reminiscent of “Panfilov’s 28 Men”.  A variety of weapons are used by the Estonians, including Karl’s MG42 and panzerfausts.  As usual, the T-34s are underused and there are no crying wounded in the end.  The second is the recovering of a trench with grenades followed by machine gun spraying reminiscent of “Unknown Soldier”.  And finally, there is an assault on a German defensive position, but this time the T-34s are very aggressive.  It is one of the best combination tank/infantry scenes I have viewed.  GRADE  =  B  (8) 

FINAL SCORE:  Unknown Soldier  34  1944  34

ANALYSIS

                This was an incredible matchup.  I assumed that “Unknown Soldier” would easily win because I has an excellent reputation and it is justified.  I think it is an A war movie and have seen it twice.  I had never heard of “1944” before this tournament.  Frankly, the terrible title led me to believe that it was an average movie.  I was very surprised when I saw it and when it appeared that it was holding its own in this matchup, I watched it again to make sure I had not overrated it.  This rewatch confirmed my original review that it too is an A war movie.  I am not sure why it is rated as the 14^th best film in this tournament.  Since this ended in a tie, I am going to break the tie with quantity of combat.  After all, it is a combat movie tournament.  Even if you look at percentage of combat, “Unknown Soldier” has more.  I’m going to move it on, but I am sick about “1944” bowing out this early.  It is better than at least two of the winners.