The Unknown Soldier (1955 film)
| The Unknown Soldier | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | Edvin Laine |
| Produced by | T. J. Särkkä |
| Written by |
Juha Nevalainen Väinö Linna |
| Starring |
Kosti Klemelä Heikki Savolainen Reino Tolvanen |
| Distributed by | Suomen Filmiteollisuus |
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Release date
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Running time
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169 minutes |
| Country | Finland |
| Language | Finnish |
The Unknown Soldier (Finnish: Tuntematon sotilas) is a Finnish film directed by Edvin Laine and 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. Its portrayal of Linna's characters is widely accepted as canonical.
Set against the events of the Finnish continuation war, the film follows a machine gun troops journey into 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 command 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 dicipline 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.
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.
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Wikipedia