The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas) 2017

The third version of The Unknown Soldier, based on Väinö Linna's novel, was released in the end of last year. It is a three-hours long movie.

The film, like the previous two versions from 1955 and 1985 respectively, is partly based on Linna's own experience from the so-called Continuation War, a war that lasted from the Sommer offencive 1941 until the retreat from Karelian isthmus 1944. Although most of the story is fiction, the film is quite true to the historical events that took place. It is also very well played and with quite realistic war-scenes.

On the negative side, I find the film much too long, and half an hour or perhaps forty-five minutes shorter would have been preferred. Also, with such a long film I would have liked to see something about the logistics behind the front line. We are watching endless shootings but no ammunition replenishments. Over-all it is a good film and worth watching.

What do you think of the film chaps?

 

Yes I like it. The original version is based so much on the characters from all around Finland speaking their local language and also having local manners that just is not easy to repeat. Rokka is excellent.

 

I have been informed that there will be no offcial English subtitle for the three-hour long "Nordic" version of Unknown Soldier. A shorter, International, version will be made with English subtitles.

In view of that, I have, for an Aussie friend of mine, translated the Swedish subtitle to English for the long Nordic version. Anyone who is interested toget a copy of that subtitle, please send me a PM with your e-mail address, and I shall send it to you.

The English text may apprear to be rather odd, but the original Finnish audio is in itself old and filled with local dialects. The person who translated to text to Swedish has kept the nature of text and I have tried to same.

The Nordic version of the movie can be downloaded from various sites.