Tuntematon sotilas

I can't really judge a movie from a country lacking a large movie industry in that particular era, but this certainly is a weird movie to watch. It's an odd pastiche of characters, representing (I'm guessing) various attitudes in Fin society regarding the Continuation War, in an odd pastiche of scenes. In between (so-so) battle scenes we see insubordination, ill discipline, comraderie, drunkeness, cowardice, and light-heartedness mixed with despair. Surprisingly non-jingoistic and non-heroic?

None of the characters are well developed, too caricatured. some seem just added into the movie in order to provide some flavor, in a "here's this type of soldier" kind of way, rather than used to develop something we can invest in. Too scripted. One thing I did appreciate very much in the movie was the intentional humor and the camaraderie in the group. That felt very true to life.

Follows the actions of a light machine gun company during the continuation war. The soldiers rebellious nature was frowned upon by the general public but the film has grown as a classic over the years. The winter and continuation war was fought by young kids barely 18. The cast has half of the right age actors and the other half are middle aged men. Director Laine cast most of the actors from Tampere's workers theatre, so his friends or the right fit for the role was more important.

Horribly outdated (technically), pro-war story goes nowhere, actors act like they are hired from a factory, don't say or show anything new, cartoon characters you don't care a bit! I don't know why this is rated so high! All Quiet on the Western Front is 25 years older than this one and it is still impressive. Actually this could be one of the worst war movies I have ever seen. Especially it Looks so stupid when soldiers are shot and die without any blood or injuries.

A classic Finnish war movie

Classic Finnish war epic. The battle scenes haven't aged too well, especially in how injuries and fatalities are portrayed. The rest of the time, Finland's foot-soldiers seem in consistently high spirits, always joking, though the humor is largely lost in translation. Still, it nicely juggles many characters, providing for many well-drawn interactions, and gives an interesting picture of a nation's military culture. Rauni Mollberg's 1985 remake is much better.

The Unknown Soldier. Finnish machine gun Companys war between 1941 - 1945.

I don't like war movies. They're boring and make the world look horrible place. This was no exception. Having been forced to read the awfully boring book in school also didn't help to enjoy it. I really hate nationalism.

The whole movie is just an endless stream of oneliners from the book read out loud with varying enthusiasm.

A true classic. One of the few finnish movies I actually like very much. Mostly great acting and quality dialogue. Worth seeing once a year.