''Tali-Ihantala 1944'' (English title ''1944: The Final Defence'') is a 2007

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

directed by

Åke Lindman Åke Leonard Lindman (born Åke Leonard Järvinen; 11 January 1928 – 3 March 2009) was a Finnish director and actor. In his youth Lindman was a football player, playing defence for the Finnish national team during the Olympics in Helsinki ...

and

Sakari Kirjavainen Sakari is a given name, and may refer to: * Sakari Kukko (born 1953), Finnish saxophonist and flutist * Sakari Kuosmanen (born 1956), Finnish singer and actor * Sakari Oramo (born 1965), Finnish conductor * Sakari Pinomäki, Finnish mechanical and ...

, based on the

Battle of Tali–Ihantala The Battle of Tali–Ihantala (June 25 to July 9, 1944) was part of the Finnish-Soviet Continuation War (1941–1944), which occurred during World War II. The battle was fought between Finnish forces—using war materiel provided by Germany—and ...

during the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

. Filming began during the summer of 2006 and was screened in autumn 2007. Lindman wanted the film to be as real as possible, and only include facts. He also wanted Finns to remember the sacrifices the soldiers made in those battles. The film received 350,000 euros in production support from the

Finnish Film Foundation The Finnish Film Foundation ( fi, Suomen elokuvasäätiö, sv, Finlands filmstiftelse) is an independent foundation with the task of supporting and developing Finnish film production, distribution and exhibition. It is supervised by the Departmen ...

. The organization created to raise money for the movie was led by Admiral

Jan Klenberg Jan Gottfrid Klenberg (22 October 1931 – 28 August 2020) was a Finnish admiral. He was born in Mikkeli. He served as Chief of Defence of the Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are ...

and was protected by former Finnish President

Mauno Koivisto Mauno Henrik Koivisto (; 25 November 1923 – 12 May 2017) was a Finnish politician who served as the ninth president of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as the country's prime minister twice, from 1968 to 1970 and again from 1979 to 19 ...

. The movie was made using a wide array of genuine wartime vehicles and, when it was not possible to acquire originals, replicas were used. Some of the tanks used had participated in the actual real-life battles depicted in the film and had been stored in a museum. Also used was a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 replica made by the German company Flug + Werk.Flug Werk's homepage with replica
During the shooting of the movie, the aircraft was decorated with markings similar to that of Major

Erich Rudorffer Erich Rudorffer (1 November 1917 – 8 April 2016) was a German ''Luftwaffe'' fighter ace who was one of a handful who served with the ''Luftwaffe'' through the whole of World War II. He was the 7th most successful fighter pilot in the history ...

's aircraft in 1944. The reception for the film was mixed. Most of the criticism was targeted at the lack of main characters and a proper plot.

References

External links

Finnish Film Foundation profile

Movie's home page
* 2007 films 2000s Finnish-language films Continuation War World War II films based on actual events Films set in Finland Films directed by Åke Lindman Finnish World War II films {{WWII-film-stub