The Unknown Soldier
DVD cover
Directed byEdvin Laine
Written byJuha Nevalainen
Väinö Linna
Based onThe Unknown Soldier by Väinö Linna
Produced byT. J. Särkkä
StarringKosti Klemelä
Heikki Savolainen
Reino Tolvanen
Distributed bySuomen Filmiteollisuus
Release date
  • December 23, 1955 (1955-12-23)
[1]
Running time
177 minutes[1]
CountryFinland
LanguageFinnish
BudgetFIM 46 million[1]
Box officeFIM 200 million[1]

The Unknown Soldier (Finnish: Tuntematon sotilas, Swedish: Okänd soldat) is a Finnish war film directed by Edvin Laine that premiered in December 1955. It is based on The Unknown Soldier, a novel by Väinö Linna. The story is about the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union as told from the viewpoint of ordinary Finnish soldiers.

The film was and remains the most successful movie ever in Finland; about 2.8 million people, or more than half the Finnish population, saw it in theaters.[1][2] Its portrayal of Linna's characters is widely accepted as canonical. The film was voted the best Finnish movie by 1213 respondents in an Internet poll by Helsingin Sanomat in 2007.[3][4]

The novel would be filmed again in 1985 by Rauni Mollberg and again in 2017 by Aku Louhimies.

Synopsis

Set against the events of the Finnish Continuation War, the film follows a machine gun troop's journey into the Soviet Union. The troop includes the simple-minded Hietanen, the jokey Vanhala, the cynical Lahtinen, the cowardly Riitaoja and grumpy Lehto. The film also follows the commanding officers, such as the happy and slightly senile Captain Kaarna, the young and idealistic 2nd Lieutenant Kariluoto, the calm and modest 2nd Lieutenant Koskela and the strict and unsympathetic Lieutenant Lammio.

They face many struggles, such as seeing the supportive Kaarna die in their first battle, three of the soldiers refusing to leave their punishment post during an air-raid as well as defending the trenches after the Finns have taken back parts of Karelia. Part of the way, the troop is joined by Rokka, a Karelian veteran of the Winter War, who also clashes with Lammio due to having little respect for military discipline despite being an excellent and capable soldier.

Throughout the film several of the main characters die. Lehto is injured during night-patrol, left behind and shoots himself. Riitaoja dies the same night when he runs off frightened and gets lost in the woods. Lahtinen dies during the winter, defending his position as his fellow soldiers flee. Hietanen becomes blinded when he saves a young serviceman from being shot. His military ambulance crashes and the blinded Hietanen is gunned down by passing Russian planes while trying to save the other injured soldiers. Kariluoto dies while leading a counter-attack, and shortly afterwards Koskela gets shot while destroying a tank using a satchel charge.

Cast

Reino Tolvanen as Rokka

Production

The film began production and was released only a year after the release of the novel. There was an immediate competition for filming rights, which was won by SF Film, led by T. J. Särkkä, after Linna sold the film rights to the book for one million Finnish marks.[1][5] Filming began in April 1955 in Nurmijärvi, although the final script was not completed until the end of May.[1]

The film is relatively loyal to the original novel though rarely shows the Soviets in most scenes. Kariluoto's death is different though his last words are the same as in the novel. Lammio's come-uppance from a disrespectful soldier during the Finns' retreat is absent from the film. The character Karjula has been omitted entirely.[6] The role of Rahikainen has also been downplayed considerably, as in the novel he is Hietanen's closest friend but merely a support character in the film.

Due to disagreements with SF Film, the Finnish Defense Forces refused to assist with the filming.[5] Thus all soldiers are actors and there is a heavy use of stock footage during several scenes showing Finnish artillery.[1]

As the soldiers are played by SF Film regulars,[1] most are physically much older than their characters in the novel. Several actors were considered for the role of Rokka but were ultimately rejected because they couldn't deliver his Karelian Finnish dialect. Reino Tolvanen was an actual veteran of the Continuation War, having served in the airforce, and was cast due to speaking the dialect naturally.[7]

Edvin Laine and Väinö Linna became good friends during the production. Laine would go on to make several more films based on Linna's novels after the mid-1960s, when SF film stopped all internal film production.

Upon completion, The Unknown Soldier was the longest and most expensive film in the Finnish cinema history up to that point: 181 minutes and, according to the account book, FIM 46,667,761.[1][5]

At the beginning and end of the film Finlandia, by Finnish national composer Jean Sibelius, is played.[8] The music used in the film is a mixture of the original music composed for the film by Ahti Sonninen and the finished music.[9]

Legacy

Since 2000, Yle has broadcast the film every year on the Independence Day of Finland (December 6). In 2015, the movie was moved to Yle Teema, away from its usual slot on either Yle TV1 or Yle TV2.[5]

In 1985, with Väinö Linna's approval, Rauni Mollberg directed a remake. This film follows the novel more closely but also features obvious visual nods to the 1955 version.

A new film version, directed by Aku Louhimies, came out in 2017. The film made its television premiere on the Independence Day of Finland (December 6) in 2021.[10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Tuntematon sotilas". Elonet (in Finnish). Kansallinen audiovisuaalinen instituutti. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Suomen Elokuva-arkisto: Katsotuimmat kotimaiset elokuvat kautta aikojen" (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  3. ↑ Jyrki Räikkä Kirjoittaja on kulttuuritoimittaja. (28 May 2007). "Tuntematon sotilas on lukijoiden mielestä yhä paras – HS.fi – Kulttuuri" (in Finnish). HS.fi. Archived from the original on 31 May 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Mikä on Suomen paras elokuva?". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 14 May 2007. Archived from the original on 21 June 2007.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Tuntematon sotilas on itsenäisyyspäivän perinne, mutta miksi Puolustusvoimat kieltäytyi yhteistyöstä, ja Urho Kekkosen oli puututtava asiaan? – Episodi (in Finnish)
  6. ↑ Sininen laulu – Tuntemattoman sotilaan vastaanotto – Yle Teema (in Finnish)
  7. ↑ Ylönen, Ulla (March 13, 2016). ""Tuntemattomassa" Rokkaa esittänyt Reino Tolvanen on haudattu Lappeenrantaan". Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ Scores to settle – Finnish Music Quarterly
  9. ↑ Susanna Välimäki (2008). Miten sota soi? Sotaelokuva, ääni ja musiikki (in Finnish). Tampere University Press. pp. 64, 66, 80, 81. ISBN 978-951-44739-5-1.
  10. ↑ Tainola, Rita (17 April 2016). "Aku Louhimies valitsi Tuntemattoman sotilaan pääosat – Eero Ahosta Antti Rokka". IS. Ilta-Sanomat. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
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