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''The Unknown Soldier'' ( fi, Tuntematon sotilas, ) is a 2017 Finnish
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
war drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...
film, an
adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...
of the bestselling 1954 Finnish classic novel of the same name by
Väinö Linna Väinö Linna (; 20 December 1920 – 21 April 1992) was a Finnish author. He gained literary fame with his third novel, ''Tuntematon sotilas'' ( ''The Unknown Soldier'', published in 1954), and consolidated his position with the trilogy ''Tää ...
, literature considered part of the national legacy. Directed by Aku Louhimies, it is the first one based on the novel's manuscript version, ("the war novel"). Previously adapted in
1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijia ...
and
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
, the World War II film is presented from the
point of view Point of view or Points of View may refer to: Concept and technique * Point of view (philosophy), an attitude how one sees or thinks of something * Point of view (literature) or narrative mode, the perspective of the narrative voice; the pronou ...
of a machine gun company ( fi, konekiväärikomppania) of the
Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft ...
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 ...
between
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
and the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
from 1941 to 1944. It was the most expensive Finnish motion picture at its release with a budget of 7 million. The film opened to mixed reviews domestically on 27 October 2017, part of the official 100th anniversary of Finnish independence program, breaking the opening weekend record for a local-language film. The international premier was on 23 November 2017 at the
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, or PÖFF ( et, Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival), is an annual film festival held since 1997 in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. PÖFF is the only festival in Northern Europe or the Baltic region with a FIA ...
, followed by Ireland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway. The film was described by critics as gritty, forlorn, honest and realistic as well as a pacifist piece confronting less pleasant sides of Finnish history. The film won four Jussi Awards for Best Actor (Aho), along with Best Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Sound Editing from a total of eleven nominations. With a €13.5 million domestic gross at the 2017 box office, it was the most successful film of the year in Finnish cinema.


Synopsis


Setting and characters

The film's setting is based on the unit Väinö Linna served in during the Continuation War, Infantry Regiment 8 (). It follows a fictional
Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft ...
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle ri ...
company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...
in the
Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance fo ...
n front from mobilisation in 1941 to armistice in 1944. The soldiers of the company are sympathetic but realistic portraits of men from all over Finland with widely varying backgrounds. Their attitude is relaxed, disrespectful of formalities, and business-like, even childish and jolly, throughout the story despite the war and the losses the company suffers. The film occasionally shifts to the homefront, showing for example Kariluoto marrying his fiancée at
Helsinki Cathedral Helsinki Cathedral ( fi, Helsingin tuomiokirkko, ; sv, Helsingfors domkyrka, ) is the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral of the Diocese of Helsinki, located in the neighborhood of Kruununhaka in the centre of Helsinki, Finland, at the Sen ...
and Antero Rokka visiting his wife Lyyti and children at their farm on the
Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern R ...
.


Plot

The machine gun company is deployed in June 1941 from their barracks to the staging area to prepare for the
invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...
. The company's first attack is over a swamp on Soviet positions. Following a series of battles, the soldiers advance into East Karelia and cross the  old border lost during the 
Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
. In October 1941, they interact with the locals while positioned in the captured and pillaged city of
Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...
. The company is ordered to defend against a Soviet winter attack along the
Svir The Svir (, Veps: , Karelian/ Finnish: ) is a river in Podporozhsky, Lodeynopolsky, and Volkhovsky districts in the north-east of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It flows westwards from Lake Onega to Lake Ladoga, thus connecting the two larges ...
river. Lahtinen is killed during a Soviet breakthrough, but Rokka halts a
flanking In military tactics, a flanking maneuver is a movement of an armed force around an enemy force's side, or flank, to achieve an advantageous position over it. Flanking is useful because a force's fighting strength is typically concentrated in ...
50-strong enemy unit by ambushing them with a
Suomi KP/-31 The Suomi KP/-31 ( or "Finland-submachine gun mod. 1931") is a submachine gun (SMG) of Finnish design that was mainly used during World War II. It is a descendant of the M-22 prototype and the KP/-26 production model, which was revealed to the p ...
submachine gun from high ground. The film follows the
trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became a ...
period of the war from 1942 to 1943. The soldiers drink
kilju Kilju () is the Finnish word for fermented water. It is made of sugar, yeast, and water. Historically, it was called sugar wine. It often has additives such as citrus fruits, apples, berry juices, or artificial flavorings for legal reasons. ...
(a home-made sugar wine) until intoxication during Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal
Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, ; 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military leader and statesman. He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, as Regent of Finland (1918–1919), as comm ...
's birthday celebrations, a new recruit is killed by a
sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...
and replacements reinforce the company. The Soviet Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive of summer 1944 forces the Finnish Army to start a withdrawal from the conquered area and to stall the Soviet advance with counter-attacks. Hietanen is first wounded by artillery and later dies when his ambulance is attacked. In the subsequent fighting, the company suffers large numbers of casualties, including Captain Kariluoto, and abandons its machine guns during a retreat from a hopeless defence. Shortly afterwards, the company must hold the line against another Soviet attack. Koskela is killed while disabling a Soviet tank with a
satchel charge 250px, Weapons used in the Winter War. The original Finnish satchel charge is on the left. A satchel charge is a demolition device, primarily intended for combat, whose primary components are a charge of dynamite or a more potent explosive such ...
. After the last counter-attack by the Finns, the war ends in a ceasefire in September 1944. The soldiers rise from their
defensive fighting position A defensive fighting position (DFP) is a type of earthwork constructed in a military context, generally large enough to accommodate anything from one soldier to a fire team (or similar sized unit). Terminology Tobruk type positions are name ...
s after the final Soviet artillery barrage stops and they listen to the first radio announcements on the eventual
Moscow Armistice The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on 19 September 1944, ending the Continuation War. The Armistice restored the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, with a number of modi ...
. The film closes with a montage of the impacts of the war and actual war-time footage.


Cast

* Eero Aho as Antero "Antti" Rokka, a pragmatic veteran corporal of the Winter War and originally a farmer from the Karelian Isthmus, who came to the war "to kill and not to be killed" and does not believe in military discipline. According to the newspaper ''
Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that o ...
'', Aho's casting came as a surprise considering he had mostly played villains or tormented characters in the past. * Johannes Holopainen as Jorma Kariluoto, an idealistic 2nd lieutenant, later lieutenant and captain. * Jussi Vatanen as Vilho "Ville" Johannes Koskela, platoon leader as 2nd lieutenant and later lieutenant. Koskela is described as the archetypal Finnish role model: quiet, upstanding and modest. *
Aku Hirviniemi Aku-Heikki Ilmari Hirviniemi (born 5 December 1983, in Riihimäki) is a Finnish actor. Theatre and television Hirviniemi has worked for several theatres around Finland, including Helsinki, Riihimäki, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Hämeenlinna, while ...
as corporal, later sergeant Urho Hietanen, the platoon jokester from
Finland Proper Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The reg ...
. * Severi Saarinen as Lehto, an aggressive and irritable corporal who hates weakness. * Hannes Suominen as Vanhala, a Tavastian private, later lance corporal and corporal who does not take the war seriously and favours listening to gramophone records of Soviet songs, such as " Kalinka". *
Paula Vesala Paula Julia Vesala (born December 10, 1981) is a Finnish singer-songwriter, actress, and playwright. She was one of two singers and main lyricist in the pop rock duo PMMP along with Mira Luoti. Her solo career began in 2015 under the stage name ...
as Lyyti, Rokka's wife who stays behind at the Karelian Isthmus to take care of the farm and their children. The character did not appear in previous film adaptations, but has been regarded as a welcome balance to the focus on the frontline. * Samuli Vauramo as Lammio, a disciplined platoon leader who is promoted to captain and company commander after the first battle. Lammio is portrayed as more humane than the caricatures of previous versions. * Joonas Saartamo as Yrjö Lahtinen, a communist relic from the
Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...
. * Arttu Kapulainen as private Susi ("Suen Tassu"), Rokka's quiet neighbour and closest friend from the Karelian Isthmus who follows him everywhere. * Andrei Alén as Rahikainen, an unempathetic private who takes advantage of the war environment. * Eino Heiskanen as Riitaoja, a timid and fearful soldier who is mostly a burden to the platoon. * Kimi Vilkkula as Sihvonen, a clumsy but an adept soldier of the platoon. * Juho Milonoff as Aarne Honkajoki, a reservist private who reinforces the company. * Eemeli Louhimies as Asumaniemi, a cocky and naiive 19-year-old private who reinforces the company. * Matti Ristinen as Sarastie, major and commander of the battalion.


Production


Development

Development of ''The Unknown Soldier'' began in September 2014 when the Finnish Film Foundation granted 30,000
euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located prim ...
s to Aku Louhimies' production company and his plan to base the film on the original novel's manuscript version ("the war novel"), released in 2010. According to Louhimies, his vision for the film was to make a modern version of the classic, similar to new versions of ''
Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those ...
'' or ''
Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cy ...
'', and bring the original novel to "the audience of today" and within the reach of the younger generation—who hardly knew Väinö Linna's novel or the first film at the time. Louhimies compared the screenplay to ''Thin Red Line'' which both selectively feature storylines from the source material. With a budget of 7 million euros, ''The Unknown Soldier'' became the most expensive film ever made in Finland or in the Finnish language. Producers pitched the film to investors with the script alone and funding for the film was fully secured in August 2015 with €5 million of the financing coming from private investors, such as video game company
Supercell A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms (s ...
, banking group LähiTapiola and foundations. Additionally €1 million came from the Finnish Film Foundation and €1 million from the national broadcaster ''
Yle Yleisradio Oy ( Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, found ...
''. The film was produced by the Finnish ''Elokuvaosakeyhtiö Suomi 2017'' with the Icelandic ''Kvikmyndafélag Íslands'' and Belgian Scope Pictures as co-producers. Reportedly, Rafale International, a defense aviation manufacturer whose
Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", and "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range o ...
fighter was one of the aircraft in consideration to replace the
Finnish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = 159 , equipment_label ...
's fleet of F/A-18 Hornets, was the film's main partner.


Filming

Filming commenced on 6 June 2016 and was shot in 80 days with over 3,000 extras and the support of the
Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (which ...
at locations around Finland, such as
Suomenlinna Suomenlinna (; until 1918 Viapori, ), or Sveaborg (), is an inhabited sea fortress the Suomenlinna district is on eight islands of which six have been fortified; it is about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Fi ...
fortress and
North Karelia North Karelia ( fi, Pohjois-Karjala; sv, Norra Karelen) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, North Savo, South Savo and South Karelia, as well as Russia's Republic of Karelia. It is the easternmost region of Finl ...
wilderness with most of the battle scenes done at Karelia Brigade training area. Initially, over 14,000 people volunteered as extras. On 29 June 2016, the film set a
Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
when Duncan Capp of IFX International Special Effects detonated the most
high explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ...
in a single film take, 70.54 kg of
TNT equivalent TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The is a unit of energy defined by that convention to be , which is the approximate energy released in the detonation of a m ...
. By day 72 of filming, 458 hours of footage had been captured with a production team of 120 people. Benjamin Mercer edited the film releases as well as the five-part television release with the
Final Cut Pro X Final Cut Pro is a series of non-linear editing, non-linear video editing software programs first developed by Macromedia, Macromedia Inc. and later Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro 10.6.4, runs on Macintosh, Mac computers power ...
application. The cast, of whom some had prior conscript military experience, went through boot camp training arranged by the auxiliary National Defence Training Association on wilderness skills, how to keep warm during winter and how to move with
cross-country skis Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...
in a forest. Louhimies wanted "people to feel and understand how it is and feel to be at war". The cast slept at scene locations in stove-warmed military tents, mimicking an actual war-time unit. To imbue realism into the scenes, the film was shot without artificial lighting, using whatever conditions the crew had.


Music

The soundtrack of the film was composed by Lasse Enersen (with whom Louhimies had cooperated before) and recorded with the
Lahti Symphony Orchestra The Lahti Symphony Orchestra (''Sinfonia Lahti'') is a Finnish orchestra, based in the city of Lahti. The orchestra is resident at the Sibelius Hall. The orchestra was founded in 1910, and placed under the control of the Lahti municipality in 19 ...
at Sibelius Hall. Louhimies wanted the music to display "soul and fragility" while Enersen described it as "simple, stark, sometimes raw and ugly" and left out themes of heroism or victory from the score. Louhimies considered it important that the music was produced in Finland in alignment with the 100th year of Finnish independence. Enersen visited locations of the film during filming to talk with actors, find inspiration and to observe. He decided to use a
synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
and a
Hardanger fiddle A Hardanger fiddle ( no, hardingfele) is a traditional stringed instrument considered to be the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than f ...
, a traditional Norwegian instrument, to complement the orchestra's music.
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (born 28 August 1979) is a fiddler, born in Dublin, Ireland, who attended Trinity College Dublin, becoming a Scholar in Theoretical Physics (1999) and earning a First Class BA degree (as the top student of his class) in 20 ...
, an Irish fiddler, performed the Hardanger on the score. On 15 September 2017, the Finnish
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
band Haloo Helsinki! released the song "Tuntematon" ("Unknown"), thematically tied to the film through its lyrics and music video. The music video was directed by Aku Louhimies and Aleksi Koskinen.


Themes

The film was described as honestly confronting the less pleasant aspects of Finnish history, such as the nature of the war as Finnish aggression, military cooperation with
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, and Adolf Hitler's secret visit to celebrate Field Marshal Mannerheim's 75th birthday in June 1942. For example, military historian Lasse Laaksonen said that the film's positive aspect is that it allows Finns to learn about their history. Likewise, the film was described as a gritty, forlorn,
pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campai ...
and realistic outlook on the Continuation War. Director Louhimies commented that he intended to highlight the individuals taking part in war instead of glorifying conflict and stay true to Väinö Linna's views. Allusions were drawn from the film's patriotic nature to contemporary foreign policy of Russia, tensions in the
Baltic region The terms Baltic Sea Region, Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, mainly in Northern Europe. ...
and Mannerheim's description of Russia as Finland's “hereditary enemy from the East”. However, the film was described as using Russian actors, such as Diana Pozharskaya playing Vera in the conquered Petrozavodsk, to humanize the war.


Release

The film's release was tied to the centenary of Finnish independence. It premiered in Finland on 27 October 2017 at 140 locations with an age rating of 16 and distributed by
SF Studios SF Studios is a Swedish film and television production and distribution company (both Swedish and international) with headquarters in Stockholm and local offices in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki and London. The studio is owned by Nordic media cong ...
. German independent film distributor Beta Cinema purchased the international sales rights for the movie. ''The Unknown Soldier'' was featured at the
American Film Market The American Film Market (AFM) is a film industry event held each year in early November. Historically, more than 7,000 people attend the eight-day annual event to network and to sell, finance and acquire films. Participants come from more than ...
in November 2017, and during the same month SF Studios acquired distribution rights for Sweden, Norway and Denmark and
Arrow Films Arrow Films is a British independent film distributor and restorer specialising in world cinema, arthouse, horror and classic films. It sells Ultra HD Blu-rays, Blu-rays and DVDs online, and also operates its own subscription video on-dema ...
the rights for the United Kingdom and Ireland. The international premier of the film was at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe, Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, sea across from Sweden, to ...
on 23 November 2017. It opened at the Subtitle film festival in Ireland on 25 November 2017, in Sweden on 6 December 2017, in Iceland on 25 January 2018 and in Norway on 9 February 2018. While the running time of the film's original domestic theatre release was 179 minutes, an international version was cut to 133 minutes.


Reception


Box office

In Finland, ''The Unknown Soldier'' grossed €3.0 million during its previews and opening weekend. It broke the record for the biggest opening weekend for a Finnish-language film and settled overall third after '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' and ''Spectre''. It was the highest-grossing film of 2017 in Finnish cinema with €13.5 million.


Critical response

The film received an average rating of 3.67 out of 5 in Finland according to a review aggregation article by the newspaper ''
Aamulehti ( Finnish for "morning newspaper") is a Finnish-language daily newspaper published in Tampere, Finland. History and profile ''Aamulehti'' was founded in 1881 to "improve the position of the Finnish people and the Finnish language" during Rus ...
''. Marko Ahonen from the newspaper ''
Keskisuomalainen ''Keskisuomalainen'' is a daily Finnish language newspaper published in Jyväskylä, serving central Finland (''Keski-Suomi'' means Central Finland). Its parent company Keskisuomalainen Oyj owns nearly 80 newspapers. History and profile ''Kesk ...
'' appraised ''The Unknown Soldier'' with five out of five, describing it as "an impressive pacifist war film" where the reality of combat is forlorn and unpleasant. He criticised the mixing of spoken dialogue, which sometimes was difficult to understand. ''Hufvudstadsbladet's'' Krister Uggeldahl called it "as traditional as respectful" and "a movie that breathes and lives (even when death is harvesting its victims), but at no stage apologizes" and gave it four out of five while thanking the actors' complete work. Markus Määttänen from ''Aamulehti'' likewise put the movie at four out of five and compared it to the poetic war experience of ''Thin Red Line'', but disparaged how some characters, Lehto in particular, were diminished compared to previous film adaptations. Juho Rissanen and Taneli Topelius of Finnish tabloids ''
Iltalehti ''Iltalehti'' (literally "Evening newspaper") is a tabloid newspaper published in Helsinki, Finland. History and profile ''Iltalehti'' was established in 1980 as afternoon edition of newspaper '' Uusi Suomi''. Alma Media is the owner of ''Ilt ...
'' and ''
Ilta-Sanomat ''Ilta-Sanomat'' () is one of Finland's two prominent tabloid size evening newspaper and the second largest paper in the country. Its counterpart and biggest rival is '' Iltalehti''. According to the National Media Research done in 2019 ''Ilta ...
'', gave the film a full five out of five. Rissanen called it a masterpiece and "a film the 100 year old Finland truly deserves" and that the "psychological effect of war on men is now presented more visibly than before" while Topelius praised the portrayal of the homefront and the inclusion of women in the film, with both of them calling the film dark, honest and gritty. Conversely, Juho Typpö from ''Helsingin Sanomat'' gave the film two stars out of five, arguing that the film failed to justify its existence because it was too similar to the novel's previous film adaptations. According to Typpö, the film was not bold enough, and instead followed conventional depictions of masculinity in Finnish cinema and was a safe, risk-free attempt to please everyone under Finland's 100 year celebrations. He also criticized that the film didn't take a stand against the rise of far right groups in Finland. In Sweden, ''The Unknown Soldier'' received an average rating of 3.2 out of 5 according to the ' review aggregator website. Björn Jansson from ''
Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...
'' said the film is "a good depiction of the war's meaninglessness and insecurity" but that it is difficult to get along with its "futility, emptiness and waiting in muddy trenches", rating it three out of five. Johan Croneman of ''
Dagens Nyheter ''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of recor ...
'' said the film was powerful and sad at the same time, but remarked that " fortunately, we cannot see the 3-hour original version in Swedish cinemas, instead, the 47-minute cut-off international release, and it's a rumphap that the film is suffering from. Several shades have been lost, it is quite obvious even if you did not see the original." Croneman put the film at four out of five. Jens Peterson of the tabloid ''
Aftonbladet ''Aftonbladet'' (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan H ...
'' rated the film at three out of five and said that it "is well-told and strong, but not as original today." Sigurd Vik from the Norwegian radio channel ''
NRK P3 NRK P3 is a nationwide digital radio channel operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). It was established as NRK's third radio channel in 1993, and was the result of the NRK radio channel reform initiated in 1992 by radio dire ...
'' appraised the film with four out of six. He said that the film's chronicle-type screenplay "sometimes becomes a bit stiff and unobtrusive", but concluded that the film is an "interesting piece of war history" and a "raw and realistic infantry movie." Britt Sørensen of the newspaper ''
Bergens Tidende ''Bergens Tidende'' is Norway's fifth-largest newspaper, and the country's largest newspaper outside Oslo. ''Bergens Tidende'' is owned by the public company Schibsted ASA. Norwegian owners held a mere 42% of the shares in Schibsted at the end ...
'' commented that ''The Unknown Soldier'' is a film for those "who are particularly interested in war films and war history, or history in general. But it also has moments of cinematic beauty and profound humanity." She rated it at four out of six.


Accolades


TV Mini-Series (2018-2019)

Extended footage from the 2017 Tuntematon sotilas film was edited into a five part TV series totaling 4 hours and 30 minutes. The TV series premiered on December 30, 2018.Tuntematon sotilas, TV Mini Series (2018–2019), IMDB. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9604400/


See also

*
Finnish literature Finnish literature refers to literature written in Finland. During the European early Middle Ages, the earliest text in a Finnic language is the unique thirteenth-century Birch bark letter no. 292 from Novgorod. The text was written in Cyrilli ...
*
Finnish military ranks The Military ranks of Finland are the Military rank, military insignia used by the Finnish Defence Forces. The ranks incorporates features from Swedish, German, and Russian armed forces. In addition, the system has some typically Finnish characteri ...
* Finland–Russia relations *
Foreign relations of Russia The foreign relations of the Russian Federation is the policy arm of the government of Russia which guides its interactions with other nations, their citizens, and foreign organizations. This article covers the foreign policy of the Russian Fe ...
*
Historiography in the Soviet Union Soviet historiography is the methodology of history studies by historians in the Soviet Union (USSR). In the USSR, the study of history was marked by restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Soviet historiography i ...
*
List of anti-war films Anti-war films may criticize armed conflicts in a general sense to illustrate that war is futile and a loss for all sides involved, while others focus on acts within a specific war, such as poison gas use or genocidal killing of civilians. There ...
*
Military history of Finland during World War II A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...


Other Finnish World War II films

* ''Ambush'' (1999 film) * '' Beyond the Front Line'' * ''The Boys'' (1962 Finnish film) * ''The Interrogation'' (film) * '' Tali-Ihantala 1944'' * ''The Winter War'' (film)


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Unknown Soldier, The 2017 films 2010s historical films 2017 war drama films Continuation War Films directed by Aku Louhimies Films based on works by Väinö Linna Films based on military novels Films based on Finnish novels Films set in 1941 Films set in 1942 Films set in 1943 Films set in 1944 Films set in Finland Films set in Helsinki Films set in the Soviet Union Films shot in Finland 2010s Finnish-language films 2017 independent films Finnish war drama films Anti-war films about World War II Eastern Front of World War II films 2017 drama films Finnish World War II films