![The Unknown Soldier ( 1955 ) ( Tuntematon sotilas ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Finland ]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sv2FEOr8L._SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg)
This movis is the first of (so far) two filmed versions of Väinö Linna's famous novel about Finland in the Continuation War 1941-44, in which the country sided with Nazi Germany. Since it was made relatively shortly after the publication of the novel, many people in Finland saw the film before reading the novel, which has clearly coloured their view of the written text.
Linna's novel, in a typical Finnish manner, manages to mix Eastern and Western influences. It is epic like Tolstoy (well, almost) and dialogue-based like Hemingway, with a whole group of drafted soldiers acting towards their officers like the famous Czech 'Soldat Svejk'. The book was written at a time when public debate in Finland about the country's role in WWII, absurdly enough, mainly concerned accusations against the soldiers' postulated lack of bravery in the Continuation War as compared to the Winter War. This is parly why Linna, who participated in both wars but never rose above the rank of lance corporal (and at the time of writing the novel was a factory worker) included much critisism of the higher ranking officers and many scenes where the soldiers are shown to fight very bravely indeed. These features can easily overshadow a number of other features in the novel, such as its pronounced bleakness, its class-consciousness, the inevitable guilt question regarding the extremely complicated issue of a democratic Nordic state fighting alongside Nazi Germany, and a general attitude towards Finnish hard man mentality which is far more critical when you delve into the text than what a superficial reading might divulge.
This early movie version of the novel chose to pretty much give the Finnish people what they wanted: by adapting much of the dialogue directly to screen it focuses on the comical sides of the novel, and being a visual medium it also shows a lot of the fighting and, it has to be said, does this in a manner which in the mid-1950s was seen as shockingly realistic. However, the other major aspects of the novel, which of course were less pleasant to confront for the average Finn, were downplayed or even completely neglected.
As a kind of illustration of the novel the film still has some value today, at least if you can manage to ignore the bizarre fact that the actors in general are about twice the age of the 19-year old draftees they are supposed to portray. However, it seems to swing between something resembling early television sitcom, interjected bits taken from old documentary films, and the occasional display of true dramatic talent and glimpses of the deep anger and bitterness that initially had driven Linna to write his novel.
The three stars I give this movie are mainly on the basis of the qualities of the novel: the storyline, the characters, plus also the fact that like many other films about WWII made within the first decade following the War it features people who had experiences the event first hand which spills into a kind of realism that is beyond the normal technical terms employed in the movie business. However, overall and artistically this film has not stood the test of time, particularly not when compared to the 1985 version which quite simply is an outstanding display of cinematic genius. It is depressing to think that the early version continues to be seen as 'the real version' in Finland, a country which still, despite all its physical braveness, needs to face the facts that Linna tried to present his people with more than fifty years ago. An almost classic example of the importance and foresight of a truly great author.
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