Talvisota (1989)

 

                    “Talvisota” (“The Winter War”) was the most expensive Finnish movie up to then.  It was based on a novel Antti Tuuri.  It was directed by Pekka Parekka.  The movie was a big hit and won six Jussi Awards.  It was Finland’s nominee for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, but did not make the finals.  It was released to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Winter War, which is what it is set in.  It follows a platoon of reservists on the Karelian Isthmus during the war.                   

                    The movie opens on Oct. 13, 1939.  The Soviet Union has invaded Finland and army reserves have been called up.  Two brothers, Martti and Paavo (played by real-life brothers Taneli  and Konsta Makela), join their ill-prepared comrades near the front.  They are not enthusiastic and neither is the public.  They get some half-ass training and then are shipped to the trenches.  Their mission is to hold back the Soviet hordes.  Although the Red Army is equipped with T-26 tanks, the Finns put up a good fight.  Since the movie covers the whole war, if you are a history buff, you know where this is heading.  There is plenty of combat along the way.  Most of it of the trench-defending variety.  We watch to see who the next victim will be.  It’s definitely a “who will survive?” movie.

                    “Talvisota” is a highly-regarded movie, but I found it overrated.  The combat is the strength.  The production made use of actual T-26 tanks and other authentic weapons (or excellent replicas of them).  The sound and explosion effects are well-done.  (The special effects coordinator loves to blow up trees.)  The tanks use their machine guns (unlike most war movies) and the men reload their weapons.  There is a good realistic scene where Martti and his mates recapture a bunker.  Unfortunately, much of the rest of the combat scenes lack realism.  In spite of their monopoly on tanks, the Soviets always retreat for no apparent reason.  The battles are too staged and the hand-to-hand is too choreographed.  The deaths are appropriately random and the hardships of trench warfare are accurately depicted.  But the combat is repetitive as they defend the same trenches (which they don’t bother to improve) for most of the movie.  It’s not a last stand movie, as the unit is eventually replaced and moved to another area where it faces great odds.  Overall, the combat is a mixed bag. It is fairly historically accurate in its coverage of the Battle of Taipale.  The Finnish army did repel several assaults, but the Soviets did break through (although the movie is not clear on this).                                                                                                 

                    “Talvisota” is a small unit movie, but only Martti is developed as a character.  The others we learn simply by spending a lot of time with them.  They don’t get back-stories, for the most part.  The actors are fine, especially Taneli Makela who won Best Actor at the Jussi’s.  Vesa Vierikko (Lt. Jussi Kantola) won Best Supporting Actor.  The cast was not helped by the dialogue.  You don’t get much soldier banter.  They don’t discuss why are they there, but they also don’t make speeches about defending the Fatherland.  The behavior is more authentic than the dialogue.  No one is heroic.  They are exhausted, hungry, and cold.  And dying.

                    I don’t quite get what the fans of this movie see in it.  I could be wrong, but I have seen it twice and still think it is just an average film.  It is nowhere near as good as the similar Finnish film “The Unknown Soldier” which is set in the Continuation War.  They make for a good double feature.  And then you won’t have to say you have no idea what role Finland played in WWII.

GRADE  =  C