The Unknown Soldier (1985 film)
| The Unknown Soldier | |
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A DVD cover for The Unknown Soldier.
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| Directed by | Rauni Mollberg |
| Produced by | Rauni Mollberg |
| Written by |
Veikko Aaltonen Väinö Linna |
| Starring |
Risto Tuorila Pirkka-Pekka Petelius Paavo Liski Mika Mäkelä Pertti Koivula Tero Niva Ossi-Ensio Korvuo Mikko Niskanen Pauli Poranen |
| Distributed by | Arctic-Filmi |
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Release date
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Running time
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187 minutes |
| Country | Finland |
| Language | Finnish |
The Unknown Soldier (Finnish: Tuntematon sotilas) is a Finnish 1985 film directed by Rauni Mollberg. It is a remake of the 1955 film of the same title, directed by Edvin Laine and based on the best selling Finnish novel by the same name written by Väinö Linna.
It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 59th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
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 Captain Kariluoto 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.
Mollberg used young and unknown actors, many of them now famous. The film was shot in color with much hand-held footage, attempting to portray the story more realistically than the prior Edvin Laine version. This has often lead to unfavourable comparisons with the better-known 1955 adaption. Although a full musical score was composed for the movie, Mollberg released the finished film without it for stylistic reasons.
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