Another Danish WWII movie worth reviewing is 2021’s ‘The Shadow in My Eye’ also released as ‘The Bombardment’. The film deals with Operation Carthage carried out by RAF / RAAF / RNZAF Mosquito squadrons over Copenhagen.
The unknown soldier, The book, is Also written by a former Finnish soldier. He based many characters on real people. The book is clearly made by an real soldier with an eye For tactics, unlike Hollywood movies. Also it is deeply anti war, only gloriying human connection in The middle of war
If you were a Finnish male between the ages of 15 and 60 and not (already) maimed, you were a soldier. You're not wrong, but "made by a real soldier" could apply to almost any book or other work made by a Finnish man after the war. It would've been more difficult to find someone who hadn't fought in the war.
@@poika22 yes, but im talking in The context of other war movies. This is one of The few war movies out there filmed by using a script of actual WW2 soldier who saw what war was really like
@@anttitheinternetguy3213 That's not really true. Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse now and The Thin Red Line were all based on novels by "an actual soldier". I'm not even working off any "war movies written by soldiers" checklist, I just googled the first 5 famous war movies I could think of and 4 (all aside from Saving Private Ryan) were written by or based on a book written by a soldier.
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne oh, this is your point! Here's a quiz question for you: in which army Jews fought as allied with the Nazi Germany in the WWII?
I was an extra as a soldier on both sides in Tali-Ihantala 1944. I was serving in the army at that time, and some of us were used in that film. It is an experience I'll never forget." When we arrived at the filming location, we were split into two groups: Finns and Russians. First, I was cast to the Russian side." There we were let out to the costume area to dress up with realistic war-era Russian clothes and weaponry, helmets and all. Then, those of us who smoked were given 'Mahorkka,' era-correct tobacco and were only allowed to smoke that on set." As we came out from the costume area, we were then quickly rallied as groups and put onto these old trucks on a platform with plastic wrap covering us on top, and it was dark and dusty." When the cars started and we started to move, everything felt so real. It felt like I was really being transported to a battlefield. Sitting tightly packed, side by side with my service friends, only slight beams of light coming through the broken and worn cover hitting the dust and creating these light rays. Some were coughing because of the smoke, but there was this silence, this sense of anxiety in all of us, and only a few of us dared to break this silence with a few whispers. When I looked around me, I could see these figures of young men like me, with silhouettes of their weapons standing upwards from the floor beside them... I have never felt anything so cinematic in my life." As we arrived and the truck stopped, we were quickly told to jump out. It all just added to the realism. We were told to line up, and the film crew told us what was going to happen. We would be filming a scene with tanks moving on a road, and one of them would be shot with a panzerfaust; thus, there would be pyro included." From there we walked towards these Russian tanks, some standing beside it and some hopping on top. From there, we moved as a mechanized unit a few hundred meters to the film location." The location was this gravel road with a war-torn forest and field beside it. Again, it all felt too real. At the location, some stayed on top, and I myself was walking on beside the tank. When the tank pressed the gas as we filmed, it always went a bit sideways, and many of us near it had to jump into the ditch beside the road to avoid our legs being under it. This can be seen in the movie, although from a distance somewhat. We can also be seen up close, walking and sitting on top of the tanks." Next day I wanted to be a Finnish soldier and got the green light. This time, my friend and I were asked to be in a close-up shot. We were to be masked as grenade explosion victims. We rehearsed this scene too. We would advance on this quiet, almost too quiet forest, and suddenly a grenade would explode near us. The camera would then pan to me, showing my masked bloody face. I would call out my friend's last name (real last name) out loud while trying to search him in shock." After practice, we were let out to hang around the set. It was 35°C outside, and we had to wait for our scene to be filmed. It was time to relax and smoke some Mahorkka. We met others from my real unit there as Russians. One of my buddies took a great image of me as a Finnish soldier sitting on a wooden log with my trusty Suomi Kone-pistooli right beside me, leaning against my leg, smoking a Mahorkka tobacco, while seemingly guardian Russian soldiers were laying on the ground around me, seemingly exhausted from the heat also. The image looks so real and authentic. He also took a few other images, equally as great. In one of them, I look like an unknown soldier with my face under the shadow of my hat." Funny thing I noticed: even though the Russian clothing, thin fabric as it was, became super hot under the scorching sun, meanwhile, my Finnish, almost wool-like clothing stayed cool enough that it was bearable. After a few hours though under the scorching sun and exhausting heat, the real problem was my bloody mask/makeup. It was made from this rubbery material, and it really started to itch. There was nothing to be done, though, so I just had to hang tight. It was fun to hang out with friends, though, and it was atmospheric. Just a bit... annoying." We filmed a small distance scene, but then it was back to waiting. Twelve hours later, they were still filming other scenes, and we started to worry. The itching was quite severe, and although we got used to the waiting, I really wanted to start filming. I love acting." Suddenly, after 14 hours or so, they suddenly announced, 'We will end filming from today. Thank you for participating.'" I was devastated and bummed. While it was a relief to get the mask off, there was still this feeling of disappointment in my mind. As we headed to the costume area, I realized what a great experience this still was. This most atmospheric experience I could have imagined, and I was so grateful for it. I still am to this day."
There are 3 variants of this movie: Old 5 episodes TV series, 275 min, Extended Finnish TV series version. And has no subtitles or translation. But most common are translated 127 minutes (international cut), or Original Finnish theatrical version 197 min which lacks lot of content filling, but not necessary for the "plot" in war movie
The Finnish machine gunner you see at 5:11 . I've met him in the 90s as an old man, the guy this character was based on. His real name is Viljam Pylkäs but they changed it to Antti Rokka. He was a farmer from the Karelian Isthmus. A very skilled soldier, but didn't care for discipline. Never saluted the officers, for example. His reason was: "I didn't come here for honor, I came here to fight." He had a loud voice and a lot of energy for an 80-year-old. That generation was tough.
The good leader wouldn't level him self higher than his soldiers so if you want your troops loyalty treat them equally. The discipline comes out of loyalty. @@sirfunkalot1291
@@sirfunkalot1291 In the book/movie the officers do not take kindly to it, but he manages to keep his head by being accomplished. I would Imagine the real life counterpart would have had similar issues.
@@sirfunkalot1291 Its different when you are fighting for your life and homeland. You cant really court martial someone for being an asshole when you need every able body man. As long as people aint running to the hills at the sight of enemy CO's gave more freedom to regular infantry.
The Unknown Soldier is an institution in Finland. It is based on the similarly named book, written by someone who actually fought during the Continuation war. That's why the details are the way that they are. The book has been adapted into a movie three times, the first one came out in the 50s. It's a tradition in Finland for one of the versions to be broadcasted during our independence day, and many have seen it enough times that many of characters and their quotes have transitioned to every day Finnish language.
Both the book and film has the name Tuntematon Sotilas and the film is the book but in a film version. The book has also resived a lot of praise from the veterans of the war for being realistic but when the book was published the finish army tried to shoot down the story for depicting the soldiers of the war as cowardly sissys.
@@Oscarilainen No, you're talking about "Sotaromaani", the original version of Unknown Soldier. Sotaromaani was the accurate representation of the war, but was forced to strip down basically everything that made Finland look bad, the stripped down version is called Unknown Soldier.
Just from the brief clip, you can see the shot composition and use of color to show the dust and dirt of extended battle. Also that scene where the MG crew is holding off a russian advance in the snow looked gorgeous visually. I love wide open shots of combat in film. They really make you understand the setting and lay of the land in a way I enjoy. Sorry for long comment. I just love film
@@UltraCasualPenguin I agree, it gets more inside the characters. And is easier to watch becuse are divided to 50minute episodes. Same thing as the U-96 - Das Boot. Superb movie, but even better as miniseries.
@@SergeyPRKL the Das Boot miniseries isn't as great as the movie though since they had to throw in a pointless resistance sub-plot as well to padd out time
I watch The Unknown Soldier every year around the summer. The change from happy and enthusiastic soldiers going to war changing to PTSD ridden hardened vets is done magnificently. One of my favorite WW2 depictions along with Band of Brothers
As a small tidbit knowledge, The term Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas) comes from a fallen soldier who couldn't be identified after retrieval and reburial post war. Usually fallen soldiers would be returned to the village they originated from for burial and even if they couldn't be identified they would receive a proper plot and a stone at the soldiers section of cemetary, but simply marked as "Unkown soldier"
it's such a clever choice of name. the war doesn't care who you are. there are masses of soldiers, of people, who get left behind in the smoke. it could be you or it could be me. in the end all that remain are so many forgotten and untold stories. it could be anyone who falls next. it's brilliant and devastatingly sad.
Tali- Ihantala was the Battle that forced Stalin to negotiate with Finland.. for 2 reasons, first it showed that the Finns would inflict massive losses on men and Equipment on the Russians, even if they could be conquered and secondly the Russian forces in the Baltic states and Poland were screaming fof reinforcements for Operation Bagration, which was bogging down there with massive losses, also.
The Winter War also forced Stalin to negotiate with Finland and abandon his Terijoki puppet government, intended to be installed into Helsinki and eventually annex Finland into the USSR.
As a Norwegian you'd think my favourite would be something like Max Manus, 12th man or something. But holy shit! The Forgotten Soldier is probably the best war movie i have seen. You want a real underdog story, don't watch Saving Private Ryan, that's not underdog. Forgotten Soldier 100% is.
The Unknown Soldier is one of the the best war films I've ever seen, a true masterpiece!! I have Tali Inhallata in my Movie Playlist and I'm keen on watching it when i have time and i also hope i can find King's Choice somewhere. It's an amazing production and the Blücher scene alone set chills down my spine
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne That's exactly what they did and what they where. I guess taking back stolen land and liberating the Finnish people that lived there doesn't sound too right to you...
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne Finnish soldiers fought for their country. The land the Soviets invaded in 1939 where belonging to Finland. In 1941, they got the chance to take them back. Germany was the perfect ally for Finland. They had the same enemy and Germany was keen on helping them with materials and weaponry because of that. I don't blame the Finnish...
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne Why would someone not support WWII Finland? Except if you're a Soviet... It did nothing wrong! And it wasn't a military dictatorship. Finland was never a dictatorship. The leading political party was a republican called National Progressive Party. And what my profile pic have to do with that? Is it illegal to be WWII tank enthusiast?
I guess it depends on your definition of WW2, but I am of the conviction that you should swap out Tali-Ihantala 1944, with Talvisota from 1989, it is the war movie all other Finnish movies aspire to be as great as. It is a true masterpiece.
Good advice. I haven’t seen these despite being Scandinavian. My grandfather was stationed at the Sweden-Finland Border during the war and despite Sweden not being involved in the war at the end when the Finns were driving the Germans out to Norway as part of their peace agreement with the Soviets my grandfather and his squad saw the Germans doing unspeakable things to the Finns and he never said it outright but heavily implies they killed some German officers across the border as revenge. I’ve never heard anything officially about this and it would have been an act of war from Sweden towards Germany. He mentioned where they buried the Luger pistols but unfortunately I don’t remember as it was 20 years ago and I wrote it down on a cell phone I had back then but never backed it up so I don’t remember where. He died many years ago. I’ve asked my mom and my uncle but they say he never spoke of the war with them. I just have what he told me not long before he died and some dairy entries by my grandma talking about what he told her the Germans did. She didn’t write in detail but noted that she hoped that the Germans burned in eternal hell for their actions so it must have been very bad.
@@JohnnyJohnsonHistory I have seen a couple of the movies you recommended and like them also. There is something different about the Finnish war movies from others that makes them stand out. I've seen "Talvisota" a couple of times, but unfortunately it is not on UA-cam now. It was my introduction to the Winter War and led to to watching other Finnish movies.
as a finn the ending of the unknown soldier hits so good with the finlandia hymn. such a beautiful composition about finnish liberation from long russian oppression
Many other good Nordic war films have been mentioned in the comments. The one I would like to call attention to (mentioned once below) is the Finnish film Lupaus (The Promise), which follows three Lottas (female non-combatant volunteers) who perform different tasks in support of the defence of Finland during the Winter War and the Continuation War and in the process give a good (sometimes a little melodramatic, but historically correct) impression of the war from (just) behind the front lines. This is a side of war that is often underrated or forgotten.
About Unknown Soldier: It is often mentioned these days, but I have yet to see context provided. It is the third movie adaptation (1955, 1985, 2017) of a book. Also the book exists in two different versions, first one having been rejected by the publisher and put out way later. Also the latest movie exists as a movie and a five part series, which is longer (~4h30min).
@@anaboli_o I have the miniseries on BD with english cover. Swedish, norwegian, danish, finnish & english subtitles and nordic4 synopsis (fi, se, no, dk). So it´s out there for "everybody".
I can also recommend the Older version of The Unknown Soldier (1954). Some other movies I can recommend: Kampen om Narvik -Norway Gulltransporten-Norway Under sandet -Denmark
That is an extremely difficult movie to see here in the U.S. Beleive me, I have tried. The 2017 is equal to 1957's "Paths of Glory". Both are masterpieces, and stand alone from any others, and that includes "Saving Private Ryan".
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne not really they weren't glorified as heroes it showed 1. A finn executing a Soviet POW 2. it shows the finns executing two of their soldiers 3. It shows a finn killing a soviet when he threw his hands in the air and said "net ja nekovo ne ubival" "I dint kill anyone" 4. A finnish Corporal being an a hole to a fellow soldier and beating him I have watched this film 2 times and I dont remember anything that makes it out as them being heroes
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne you're describing them like it's a Hollywood film where 1 guy takes out 300 "bad guys" they aren't shown as bad ass immortal fighting machines when a character does smth "badass" it's realistic and I don't get where you get the idea the film is trying portray it as them going on a noble crusade against the soviets it's simply them fighting to reclaim land that teh soviets took in the winter war a year and a half ago
Germany and Japan have become stable democracies but Russia has not changed. It was actually better for a period after Stalin but now they are back to square one. My older relatives are completely uninterested in war movies, they don't want to relive things again. But these movies hopefully teach the younger generations not to take things for granted.
i would personally suggest watching the unknown soldier mini series over the movie as it just adds more quite scenes which adds to the absolute horror of the later episodes
As a swede, watching norweigan and danish WW2 movies has improved my comprehension of the languages significantly. I recommend ”The 12th man” (2017)🇳🇴 and ”April 9th” 🇩🇰
@@Jebu911 There is two, Gränsen (2011) a made up story about a small clash between Swedish and German soldiers on the Norwegian border. And Någonstans i Sverige (1973) a series about what Swedish soldiers did during peace time, like guard german soldiers passing trough Sweden.
@@birds7073 Movie Gränsen doesnt really count as you said its not even loosely based on anything. Swedish directors had the chance to make ww2 movies about the swedish volunteer corps but sadly there isnt any even tho its an interesting subject and a nice historical moment about nordic unity.
Another great finnish WW2 movie is "Framom främsta linjen", I think the english title is "Beyond enemy lines". About the Continuation War and are somewhat connected to "Tali-Ihantala 1944" or "The final defense 1944".
Former father-in-law couldn't sleep in weeks after seeing movie Talvisota (winter war). As a former fighter in Karelia he felt that movie so strongly and it brought the war back to him. Even though Unknown soldier is good movie, it never had the same impact for him. Maybe some personal reasons. Also Front of front line ( Framom främsta linjen) is good.
I went to watch that with my grandfather, a war veteran. I noticed him crying throughout the movie. It was a tough one to see him blood-eyed when the light switched on
I have yet to watch ‘Flame & Citron’ but have all the other mentioned here including a few other Nordic war movies not listed. ‘Unknown Soldier’ was excellently made and it is currently my favorite war movie.
Flammen & Citronen was shot and took place partly in my hometown, so it's pretty interesting to recognize the settings. Actually did a secondary school project specifically on Flammen's death, visiting the modern house that's now been built on the same plot as where he died.
I remember before moving to Finland seeing Unknown Soldier I don't even remember where I saw it but it was great. Now that I've moved to Finland I've watched it again on Netflix and still one of my favorite war movies it's hard to find one better to be honest.
there is also a longer version of Tuntematon Sotilas, it was on netflix before in sweden/finland atleast. It's like 5-6 episodes. That one is by far the best war film/s captured ever imo
The 9th of April is also an excellent and realistic ww2 movie. Told from the perspectiv of a Danish bycycle company; their hopeless battle against the German War-machine.
honestly, the 9th of april could also have made it into the list, a great realistic movie showcasing the invasion of denmark from a platoon of soldiers point of view!
Aye. I love how personal that movie gets by grounding it entirely to this group only, without even showing a closeup of their enemies doing fights. We see only what one of the soldiers could. And the ending straight up killed me.
FYI: there are lots of adaptations of *Tuntematon sotilas* (in english The Unknown Soldier). Including 16 hour radio drama and even an Opera. Also, if you see _International version_ of the 2017 movie, it's quite a lot shorter (2h 12min), than original Finnish version (3h). Then again, Finnish mini series version is ~1½ h longer than Finnish movie version. Naturally, there are couple of non-related movies with exact same name in English... The Unknown Soldier, a 1954 novel by Väinö Linna (* The Unknown Soldier (1955 film) The Unknown Soldier (1985 film) The Unknown Soldier (2017 film) The Unknown Soldier (2017 mini series), ~1½ h extra footage *) Uncensored version of this Novel was published in 2000. In 1940, Linna was conscripted into the army. The Second World War had broken out, and for Linna's part it meant participation in the Continuation War (1941-44).
Sotaromaani (2000) was not uncensored, more like unedited. The original book was not censored by the government but was edited by the publisher. It's just normal publishing process. And the editing was mostly approved by the author, Väinö Linna. Maybe you can call that 2000 version of the book "Authors edition", "original script version" or something like that.
@@taavihorila3879 Cleaning up language and crude humor, removing parts that criticize war, church, hell even Russia, removing parts that made Finnish army look bad... I would say that can be counted as censorship. Sure some editing was actually beneficial in the name of tighter storytelling but some are clearly politically motivated.
Max Manus (2008) is also excellent. It follows Max Manus and his group of resistance fighters in Oslo. He was one of the few Norwegian volunteers in Finland whoactually saw combat. I've also read his books, and they're really excellent.
I'm a Norwegian with Finnish genes as well. I really enjoy the quality of recent (10 years) Norwegian war docu-dramas/war movies and I take pride in our people, knowing real life often is more ridiculous than what's shown on screen. However the Unknown Soldier just really stands out. It's... melancholic. That's the best way to describe it for me. I also think about all the Finns/Karelians and other peoples who never made it, who were assimilated and Russified and forced to speak another language and to get a Russian passport if they wanted to survive.
There's also a miniseries based on the 2017 version of the Unknown Soldier, which contains lots of extra material. I think the total runtime is around 5 hours. That's a real treat too.
Another great Norwegian movie is "Kampen om Narvik" from 2022. It's about, you guessed it, the battle of Narvik in April 1940. It released on Netflix here in Norway about a month or two ago.
Another great danish movie is April 9. Which covers the German invasion of Denmark. Victory for the Germans was a forgone conclusion but there is a lot good small unit action
I kinda like thr original 1950's version of the unknown soldier more. There most of the actors were real veterans and action scenes are more realistic, because the enemy side is never really shown innthe film. For example in the original trench scenes, soviet soldiers are only seen when looking through a looking glass at the trench.
I love the unknown soldier. It’s such a deeply anti-war film. It shows the horrors of war while highlighting the bonds between men that can only be created by witnessing those horrors together.
If you ever watch Tahi-Ihantala, and any of the 3 versions of Unknown Soldier, you'll see that they are movies that can't even be compared. Tali-Ihantala is a movie about a battle, while Unknown Soldier is a movie about the people. I bet that also the fact that the other is directed by one of the best Finnish Directors, Aku Louhimies, and is based on writings of Väinö Linna, one of the most infulencial writers of indepentend Finland, who had witnessed and took part in the war. I went and saw the movie in cinema when it came out. I remember people leaving with tears in their eyes. Especially the ending scene where it just cuts to show a cemetery of fallen heroes, a place that can be found in almost every city or town of Finland. That really grounded the experience for me atleast.
While not technically a "WW2" movie the danish picture Under Sandet is just excellent. It deals in the immediate post-war Denmark and the demining of it's long Jylland coast by German POW (kids). I highly recommend it, it's production value is up there with Uknown Soldier.
I’d also recommend the old timey Danish resistance movie De Røde Enge (The Red Meadows) from 1945 if people can find it with English subs. Mostly for the novelty that the main lead Poul Reichhardt was a resistance fighter during the war, kinda funny considering he was doing 3 to 5 movies a year during the war years while also doing resistance stuff on the side lol.
Another pretty interesting fact about him/the films is also that one of his popular co-stars in later movies was a DNSAP member, so for a while you had both a resistance fighter and former Nazi playing major roles in the same movies, often being presented as either close friends or family members in the stories.
There's a very meaningful Finnish song called Tuntematon Potilas (Unknown Patient) by Arttu Wiskari which is about an old and very demented war veteran whose health and especially memory is declining fast. His memories of the war are mixing up his consciousness and he dies in the song too. The veteran's grandchild also mourns him in the song.
I recommended if you can to watch the series-version of unknown soldier. It adds even more time to develop the characters and is overall better then the movie IMO.
Don't know if you have watched it, but Danish war movie, April 9th is to my mind one of the best nordic movies about WW2. While it has some battle scenes, its merits come from the overall movie and the story it tells.
I'd like to add 2 danish movies to the list. First is 9th of April, which follows a bicycle detachment through the day of invasion. The movie uses a lack of music to ground the battles, so that you listen for every deadly bullet. While it does not touch on the overall political mess that caused Denmark to only fight for 6 hours, it does show a rather personal view of it. Second is Under Sandet (which means 'Under the Sand', but the English title is 'Land of Mine'. This movie happens just after the war, where the demining of the Danish west coast began, where Axis POWs were forced to demine the areas, often to horrific results as many of the mines were rigged against being disarmed. There's no grand battles or hard action, only a look at the teenage boys who were forced to pay for crimes they did not commit in a one of Denmark's most resent marks of shame. Bonus fact, Denmark was not declared mine-free until 2012.
The Unknown Soldier the book by Väinö Linna is so great. Even as a teenage girl when we had to read it at school I thought it would be so dull because of the war theme but I totally fell in love with it. If you can find it in English somewhere I can totally recommend it.
I love Tuntematon Sotilas because personally I am extremely anti war and all other conflict. The movie never romanticizes anything and shows the events from normal every day people's eyes. They are authentic people who were truly terrified at the battleground and they felt like real people with families that are waiting back home. They feel like one of them could be my own great great grandfather
Arne Shouen was Norways best director between 1945 and 1970. He made several strong war movies, all about thrut storries from WWII. The most famous ones are 'Nødlanding', 'Ni liv' and 'Omringet'. In addition you must include 'Brent jord' among the top movies from the first period of Norwegian WWII movies. The scond period is still going on. There are many great movies the last 20 years.
I am not a fan of war movies, but there are good Finnish war movies: "Rukajärven tie" and "Hopeaa rajan takaa". I did not even consider the latter one a war movie, because it takes place during a brief period of peace between Finland and the USSR. There is like a fighting scene that lasts seconds. A family has a silver smith shop at the territory annexed by the USSR and the men are determined to go there and haul the hidden silverware back to the Finnish side of the border.
"...shows the Finns defending their democracy..." We fought for the nation and the people, not for a form of government. Everyone knew the Reds would have shipped in large numbers Russians here to weaken homogenous population (like in Baltics) or even killed off our intelligentsia (fate of Poland) had we been occupied by them. It was an existential struggle for independence, sovereignty and above all the nation.
If you want some classic shows* about WW2 from a Swedish perspective, I'd suggest you try to find "Någonstans i Sverige" and "Fyra dagar som skakade Sverige". These are both very slow, but that really gives one time to recognise how the war shaped Sweden and our national culture.
I highly recommend ”Gränsen” meaning ”The border” It’s about a unit guarding the border between Sweden and Norway during the occupation. And having a few of the men venturing across the border to take a sneaky look at the Germans (won’t spoil the rest) eventually leading to a rescue operation. VERY good movie
12th Man is family history, my grandmothers uncle was one of the 11 men captured and executed. The original filmatization from the 50s, 9 Liv (9 Lives), is also well worth a watch. It had Baalsrud on as advisor.
The twelvfth man is a very hollywood version of the events that takes a lot of creative liberties for the sake of creating a more "standard war movie". A recommended version of the events that is more truthful to the story would be Nine Lives from 1957, which tells the story in a much more grounded way.
Note about the unknown soldier. There is two versions of this, 1955 original and 2017 version. Still fan of the original, but i recommend watching both if you have time to spare.
there are no mockups in Tali-Ihantala, the KV-1 is a real one Finnish Army captured during the war & has been kept in working condition, the destroyed ISU-152 is probably not in a driving condition, but it IS also a real one & can be found on display at Panssarimuseo close to the Armoured Brigade.
I think it would have been worthwhile to menton that while in a large scale The Unknown Soldier is set in events that happened in real world, the platoon that it follows and the events that happen to them are fictional. It's based on a 1954 novel of the same name by Väinö Linna, and this particular film is the third adaptation.
Max Manus Review: ua-cam.com/video/o6CdQDvLbZY/v-deo.html
Another Danish WWII movie worth reviewing is 2021’s ‘The Shadow in My Eye’ also released as ‘The Bombardment’. The film deals with Operation Carthage carried out by RAF / RAAF / RNZAF Mosquito squadrons over Copenhagen.
tali ihantala had 54k finns and 150k soviets
There are movies with name Unknown soldier released in 1955; 1985; and 2015 based on book of Vaino Linna
The unknown soldier, The book, is Also written by a former Finnish soldier. He based many characters on real people. The book is clearly made by an real soldier with an eye For tactics, unlike Hollywood movies. Also it is deeply anti war, only gloriying human connection in The middle of war
In the original Unknown Soldier (1955 movie) there were quite a lot of actual WW2 veterans both acting and advising in the movie.
If you were a Finnish male between the ages of 15 and 60 and not (already) maimed, you were a soldier. You're not wrong, but "made by a real soldier" could apply to almost any book or other work made by a Finnish man after the war. It would've been more difficult to find someone who hadn't fought in the war.
@@poika22 yes, but im talking in The context of other war movies. This is one of The few war movies out there filmed by using a script of actual WW2 soldier who saw what war was really like
Some of the characters are based on people from Väinö Linna's (author) own wartime unit.
@@anttitheinternetguy3213 That's not really true. Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse now and The Thin Red Line were all based on novels by "an actual soldier". I'm not even working off any "war movies written by soldiers" checklist, I just googled the first 5 famous war movies I could think of and 4 (all aside from Saving Private Ryan) were written by or based on a book written by a soldier.
The Unknown Soldier is excellent. Well made, acted and choreographed.
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne I don't think you have watched the movie at all.
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne in that case it's rather funny that you criticise the film. Not very clever behaviour.
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne seriously, dude. Watch the movie, then criticise. Otherwise you just show your ignorance.
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne ok, go on. Prove my words...
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne oh, this is your point!
Here's a quiz question for you: in which army Jews fought as allied with the Nazi Germany in the WWII?
I was an extra as a soldier on both sides in Tali-Ihantala 1944. I was serving in the army at that time, and some of us were used in that film. It is an experience I'll never forget."
When we arrived at the filming location, we were split into two groups: Finns and Russians. First, I was cast to the Russian side."
There we were let out to the costume area to dress up with realistic war-era Russian clothes and weaponry, helmets and all. Then, those of us who smoked were given 'Mahorkka,' era-correct tobacco and were only allowed to smoke that on set."
As we came out from the costume area, we were then quickly rallied as groups and put onto these old trucks on a platform with plastic wrap covering us on top, and it was dark and dusty."
When the cars started and we started to move, everything felt so real. It felt like I was really being transported to a battlefield. Sitting tightly packed, side by side with my service friends, only slight beams of light coming through the broken and worn cover hitting the dust and creating these light rays. Some were coughing because of the smoke, but there was this silence, this sense of anxiety in all of us, and only a few of us dared to break this silence with a few whispers. When I looked around me, I could see these figures of young men like me, with silhouettes of their weapons standing upwards from the floor beside them... I have never felt anything so cinematic in my life."
As we arrived and the truck stopped, we were quickly told to jump out. It all just added to the realism. We were told to line up, and the film crew told us what was going to happen. We would be filming a scene with tanks moving on a road, and one of them would be shot with a panzerfaust; thus, there would be pyro included."
From there we walked towards these Russian tanks, some standing beside it and some hopping on top. From there, we moved as a mechanized unit a few hundred meters to the film location."
The location was this gravel road with a war-torn forest and field beside it. Again, it all felt too real. At the location, some stayed on top, and I myself was walking on beside the tank. When the tank pressed the gas as we filmed, it always went a bit sideways, and many of us near it had to jump into the ditch beside the road to avoid our legs being under it. This can be seen in the movie, although from a distance somewhat. We can also be seen up close, walking and sitting on top of the tanks."
Next day I wanted to be a Finnish soldier and got the green light. This time, my friend and I were asked to be in a close-up shot. We were to be masked as grenade explosion victims. We rehearsed this scene too. We would advance on this quiet, almost too quiet forest, and suddenly a grenade would explode near us. The camera would then pan to me, showing my masked bloody face. I would call out my friend's last name (real last name) out loud while trying to search him in shock."
After practice, we were let out to hang around the set. It was 35°C outside, and we had to wait for our scene to be filmed. It was time to relax and smoke some Mahorkka. We met others from my real unit there as Russians. One of my buddies took a great image of me as a Finnish soldier sitting on a wooden log with my trusty Suomi Kone-pistooli right beside me, leaning against my leg, smoking a Mahorkka tobacco, while seemingly guardian Russian soldiers were laying on the ground around me, seemingly exhausted from the heat also. The image looks so real and authentic. He also took a few other images, equally as great. In one of them, I look like an unknown soldier with my face under the shadow of my hat."
Funny thing I noticed: even though the Russian clothing, thin fabric as it was, became super hot under the scorching sun, meanwhile, my Finnish, almost wool-like clothing stayed cool enough that it was bearable. After a few hours though under the scorching sun and exhausting heat, the real problem was my bloody mask/makeup. It was made from this rubbery material, and it really started to itch. There was nothing to be done, though, so I just had to hang tight. It was fun to hang out with friends, though, and it was atmospheric. Just a bit... annoying."
We filmed a small distance scene, but then it was back to waiting. Twelve hours later, they were still filming other scenes, and we started to worry. The itching was quite severe, and although we got used to the waiting, I really wanted to start filming. I love acting."
Suddenly, after 14 hours or so, they suddenly announced, 'We will end filming from today. Thank you for participating.'"
I was devastated and bummed. While it was a relief to get the mask off, there was still this feeling of disappointment in my mind. As we headed to the costume area, I realized what a great experience this still was. This most atmospheric experience I could have imagined, and I was so grateful for it. I still am to this day."
A great story which you’ll wont forget. But why are you ending each paragraph with a citation mark?
@@harambe8372 I fixed typos (non native english speaker and lazy) with ai and it for some reason did that 😅
The Winter War (1989) is another amazing Finnish war film as well.
I think it's the best Finnish movie ever.
There are 3 variants of this movie:
Old 5 episodes TV series, 275 min, Extended Finnish TV series version. And has no subtitles or translation.
But most common are translated 127 minutes (international cut), or
Original Finnish theatrical version 197 min which lacks lot of content filling, but not necessary for the "plot" in war movie
@@tapiokarajaoja9709 I've seen both the 275 Min version and the 197 Min version, but there's no way in hell Imma watch the 127 Min butchered version.
It's the best.
It definitely is.
The Finnish machine gunner you see at 5:11 . I've met him in the 90s as an old man, the guy this character was based on. His real name is Viljam Pylkäs but they changed it to Antti Rokka. He was a farmer from the Karelian Isthmus.
A very skilled soldier, but didn't care for discipline. Never saluted the officers, for example.
His reason was: "I didn't come here for honor, I came here to fight."
He had a loud voice and a lot of energy for an 80-year-old. That generation was tough.
He killed 83 russians with that machine gun.
that is interesting. I have been schooled in leadership, and that makes me think. How would i react as an officer at that
The good leader wouldn't level him self higher than his soldiers so if you want your troops loyalty treat them equally. The discipline comes out of loyalty. @@sirfunkalot1291
@@sirfunkalot1291 In the book/movie the officers do not take kindly to it, but he manages to keep his head by being accomplished. I would Imagine the real life counterpart would have had similar issues.
@@sirfunkalot1291 Its different when you are fighting for your life and homeland. You cant really court martial someone for being an asshole when you need every able body man. As long as people aint running to the hills at the sight of enemy CO's gave more freedom to regular infantry.
Unknown Soldier did took me by the heart of how good the movie is.
The Unknown Soldier is an institution in Finland. It is based on the similarly named book, written by someone who actually fought during the Continuation war. That's why the details are the way that they are. The book has been adapted into a movie three times, the first one came out in the 50s. It's a tradition in Finland for one of the versions to be broadcasted during our independence day, and many have seen it enough times that many of characters and their quotes have transitioned to every day Finnish language.
Both the book and film has the name Tuntematon Sotilas and the film is the book but in a film version. The book has also resived a lot of praise from the veterans of the war for being realistic but when the book was published the finish army tried to shoot down the story for depicting the soldiers of the war as cowardly sissys.
@@Oscarilainen No, you're talking about "Sotaromaani", the original version of Unknown Soldier. Sotaromaani was the accurate representation of the war, but was forced to strip down basically everything that made Finland look bad, the stripped down version is called Unknown Soldier.
The 2017 version of "The Unknown Soldier" (the one you reviewed) is one of my favorite movies of all time, regardless of genre.
Just from the brief clip, you can see the shot composition and use of color to show the dust and dirt of extended battle. Also that scene where the MG crew is holding off a russian advance in the snow looked gorgeous visually. I love wide open shots of combat in film. They really make you understand the setting and lay of the land in a way I enjoy. Sorry for long comment. I just love film
Longer mini series version of 2017 movie is even better.
@@UltraCasualPenguin I agree, it gets more inside the characters. And is easier to watch becuse are divided to 50minute episodes. Same thing as the U-96 - Das Boot. Superb movie, but even better as miniseries.
@@SergeyPRKL the Das Boot miniseries isn't as great as the movie though since they had to throw in a pointless resistance sub-plot as well to padd out time
Was an honour to be part of making the 2017 Unknown Soldier as an extra. Spent 5 days at the scene in Vekaranjärvi in June 2016.
I watch The Unknown Soldier every year around the summer. The change from happy and enthusiastic soldiers going to war changing to PTSD ridden hardened vets is done magnificently. One of my favorite WW2 depictions along with Band of Brothers
All quiet on the western front has a really good depiction of that too
As a small tidbit knowledge, The term Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas) comes from a fallen soldier who couldn't be identified after retrieval and reburial post war.
Usually fallen soldiers would be returned to the village they originated from for burial and even if they couldn't be identified they would receive a proper plot and a stone at the soldiers section of cemetary, but simply marked as "Unkown soldier"
It's a common theme for every country, just google "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier", odds are, there's at least one in your country! US has 5 of those!
it's such a clever choice of name. the war doesn't care who you are. there are masses of soldiers, of people, who get left behind in the smoke. it could be you or it could be me. in the end all that remain are so many forgotten and untold stories. it could be anyone who falls next. it's brilliant and devastatingly sad.
Tali- Ihantala was the Battle that forced Stalin to negotiate with Finland.. for 2 reasons, first it showed that the Finns would inflict massive losses on men and Equipment on the Russians, even if they could be conquered and secondly the Russian forces in the Baltic states and Poland were screaming fof reinforcements for Operation Bagration, which was bogging down there with massive losses, also.
The Winter War also forced Stalin to negotiate with Finland and abandon his Terijoki puppet government, intended to be installed into Helsinki and eventually annex Finland into the USSR.
As a Norwegian you'd think my favourite would be something like Max Manus, 12th man or something. But holy shit! The Forgotten Soldier is probably the best war movie i have seen. You want a real underdog story, don't watch Saving Private Ryan, that's not underdog. Forgotten Soldier 100% is.
Max Manus is a great film. Really drives in the anti-romantic view of the war and its toll on the people who struggled against the axis powers.
The Unknown Soldier is one of the the best war films I've ever seen, a true masterpiece!!
I have Tali Inhallata in my Movie Playlist and I'm keen on watching it when i have time and i also hope i can find King's Choice somewhere. It's an amazing production and the Blücher scene alone set chills down my spine
Neither are on the level of Unknown Soldier but both are well worth watching.
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne Extremely realistic anti-war film that depicts the Continuation War you mean...
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne That's exactly what they did and what they where.
I guess taking back stolen land and liberating the Finnish people that lived there doesn't sound too right to you...
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne
Finnish soldiers fought for their country.
The land the Soviets invaded in 1939 where belonging to Finland.
In 1941, they got the chance to take them back. Germany was the perfect ally for Finland.
They had the same enemy and Germany was keen on helping them with materials and weaponry because of that. I don't blame the Finnish...
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne Why would someone not support WWII Finland? Except if you're a Soviet...
It did nothing wrong! And it wasn't a military dictatorship. Finland was never a dictatorship.
The leading political party was a republican called National Progressive Party.
And what my profile pic have to do with that? Is it illegal to be WWII tank enthusiast?
I guess it depends on your definition of WW2, but I am of the conviction that you should swap out Tali-Ihantala 1944, with Talvisota from 1989, it is the war movie all other Finnish movies aspire to be as great as. It is a true masterpiece.
Yeah. Talvisota 1989 is great.
@@SergeyPRKL also Rukajärven tie is good
Good advice. I haven’t seen these despite being Scandinavian. My grandfather was stationed at the Sweden-Finland Border during the war and despite Sweden not being involved in the war at the end when the Finns were driving the Germans out to Norway as part of their peace agreement with the Soviets my grandfather and his squad saw the Germans doing unspeakable things to the Finns and he never said it outright but heavily implies they killed some German officers across the border as revenge. I’ve never heard anything officially about this and it would have been an act of war from Sweden towards Germany. He mentioned where they buried the Luger pistols but unfortunately I don’t remember as it was 20 years ago and I wrote it down on a cell phone I had back then but never backed it up so I don’t remember where. He died many years ago. I’ve asked my mom and my uncle but they say he never spoke of the war with them. I just have what he told me not long before he died and some dairy entries by my grandma talking about what he told her the Germans did. She didn’t write in detail but noted that she hoped that the Germans burned in eternal hell for their actions so it must have been very bad.
Unknown soldier is in my opinion one of if not the best war movie ever made. It requires some patience though.
Talvisota is one of my favorite movies about the Winter War.
I've added to my list for a review! Thank you!
@@JohnnyJohnsonHistory I have seen a couple of the movies you recommended and like them also. There is something different about the Finnish war movies from others that makes them stand out.
I've seen "Talvisota" a couple of times, but unfortunately it is not on UA-cam now. It was my introduction to the Winter War and led to to watching other Finnish movies.
as a finn the ending of the unknown soldier hits so good with the finlandia hymn. such a beautiful composition about finnish liberation from long russian oppression
Many other good Nordic war films have been mentioned in the comments. The one I would like to call attention to (mentioned once below) is the Finnish film Lupaus (The Promise), which follows three Lottas (female non-combatant volunteers) who perform different tasks in support of the defence of Finland during the Winter War and the Continuation War and in the process give a good (sometimes a little melodramatic, but historically correct) impression of the war from (just) behind the front lines. This is a side of war that is often underrated or forgotten.
About Unknown Soldier: It is often mentioned these days, but I have yet to see context provided. It is the third movie adaptation (1955, 1985, 2017) of a book. Also the book exists in two different versions, first one having been rejected by the publisher and put out way later. Also the latest movie exists as a movie and a five part series, which is longer (~4h30min).
movie and extended cut... latter was more towards finnish audience
@@anaboli_o I have the miniseries on BD with english cover. Swedish, norwegian, danish, finnish & english subtitles and nordic4 synopsis (fi, se, no, dk). So it´s out there for "everybody".
I can also recommend the Older version of The Unknown Soldier (1954).
Some other movies I can recommend:
Kampen om Narvik -Norway
Gulltransporten-Norway
Under sandet -Denmark
That is an extremely difficult movie to see here in the U.S. Beleive me, I have tried. The 2017 is equal to 1957's "Paths of Glory". Both are masterpieces, and stand alone from any others, and that includes "Saving Private Ryan".
The Unknown Soldier is my favourite movie. Good charecters, good action and realistic, when for example compared to Enemy at the Gates
One of the best.
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne Well i cant say that Stalingrad 2013 is more realistic or Fury
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne what scenes or scenes you think that are propaganda and why?
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne not really they weren't glorified as heroes it showed
1. A finn executing a Soviet POW
2. it shows the finns executing two of their soldiers
3. It shows a finn killing a soviet when he threw his hands in the air and said "net ja nekovo ne ubival" "I dint kill anyone"
4. A finnish Corporal being an a hole to a fellow soldier and beating him
I have watched this film 2 times and I dont remember anything that makes it out as them being heroes
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne you're describing them like it's a Hollywood film where 1 guy takes out 300 "bad guys" they aren't shown as bad ass immortal fighting machines when a character does smth "badass" it's realistic and I don't get where you get the idea the film is trying portray it as them going on a noble crusade against the soviets it's simply them fighting to reclaim land that teh soviets took in the winter war a year and a half ago
Germany and Japan have become stable democracies but Russia has not changed. It was actually better for a period after Stalin but now they are back to square one. My older relatives are completely uninterested in war movies, they don't want to relive things again. But these movies hopefully teach the younger generations not to take things for granted.
i would personally suggest watching the unknown soldier mini series over the movie as it just adds more quite scenes which adds to the absolute horror of the later episodes
YES! I had to keep myself from crying on the plane when I was watching the series
As a swede, watching norweigan and danish WW2 movies has improved my comprehension of the languages significantly. I recommend ”The 12th man” (2017)🇳🇴 and ”April 9th” 🇩🇰
Nice, im half Danish but my Danish is horrible. I do not understand it but I should watch more Danish movies!
Aint too many swedish ww2 movies to watch im guessing.
@@Jebu911 There is two, Gränsen (2011) a made up story about a small clash between Swedish and German soldiers on the Norwegian border. And Någonstans i Sverige (1973) a series about what Swedish soldiers did during peace time, like guard german soldiers passing trough Sweden.
@@birds7073 Movie Gränsen doesnt really count as you said its not even loosely based on anything. Swedish directors had the chance to make ww2 movies about the swedish volunteer corps but sadly there isnt any even tho its an interesting subject and a nice historical moment about nordic unity.
@@Jebu911i mean not much to make swedish war films of when sweden wasn't even a part of the war (apart from volunteers ofc)
Another great finnish WW2 movie is "Framom främsta linjen", I think the english title is "Beyond enemy lines". About the Continuation War and are somewhat connected to "Tali-Ihantala 1944" or "The final defense 1944".
one i would suggest also is Talvisota, about the soviet invasion in 1939.
Bonus film: April 9th
Not much is going on but gives us a slight perspective about the Danes balling it out in the outbreak of the war.
Another Danish WWII era film worth watching is 2021’s ‘The Shadow in My Eye’.
saw it the other day
i agree, there's not much going on, but that's kinda fitting for the period presented, and it was a good watch
I think the fact that there wasn't much going on made it more special. It was good
Former father-in-law couldn't sleep in weeks after seeing movie Talvisota (winter war). As a former fighter in Karelia he felt that movie so strongly and it brought the war back to him. Even though Unknown soldier is good movie, it never had the same impact for him. Maybe some personal reasons. Also Front of front line ( Framom främsta linjen) is good.
I went to watch that with my grandfather, a war veteran. I noticed him crying throughout the movie. It was a tough one to see him blood-eyed when the light switched on
I have yet to watch ‘Flame & Citron’ but have all the other mentioned here including a few other Nordic war movies not listed. ‘Unknown Soldier’ was excellently made and it is currently my favorite war movie.
Flammen & Citronen was shot and took place partly in my hometown, so it's pretty interesting to recognize the settings. Actually did a secondary school project specifically on Flammen's death, visiting the modern house that's now been built on the same plot as where he died.
I remember before moving to Finland seeing Unknown Soldier I don't even remember where I saw it but it was great. Now that I've moved to Finland I've watched it again on Netflix and still one of my favorite war movies it's hard to find one better to be honest.
there is also a longer version of Tuntematon Sotilas, it was on netflix before in sweden/finland atleast. It's like 5-6 episodes. That one is by far the best war film/s captured ever imo
The 9th of April is also an excellent and realistic ww2 movie. Told from the perspectiv of a Danish bycycle company; their hopeless battle against the German War-machine.
honestly, the 9th of april could also have made it into the list, a great realistic movie showcasing the invasion of denmark from a platoon of soldiers point of view!
Aye. I love how personal that movie gets by grounding it entirely to this group only, without even showing a closeup of their enemies doing fights. We see only what one of the soldiers could. And the ending straight up killed me.
FYI: there are lots of adaptations of *Tuntematon sotilas* (in english The Unknown Soldier). Including 16 hour radio drama and even an Opera.
Also, if you see _International version_ of the 2017 movie, it's quite a lot shorter (2h 12min), than original Finnish version (3h). Then again, Finnish mini series version is ~1½ h longer than Finnish movie version. Naturally, there are couple of non-related movies with exact same name in English...
The Unknown Soldier, a 1954 novel by Väinö Linna (*
The Unknown Soldier (1955 film)
The Unknown Soldier (1985 film)
The Unknown Soldier (2017 film)
The Unknown Soldier (2017 mini series), ~1½ h extra footage
*) Uncensored version of this Novel was published in 2000. In 1940, Linna was conscripted into the army. The Second World War had broken out, and for Linna's part it meant participation in the Continuation War (1941-44).
There is also a TV version of the 1985 film. It's runtime is 28 minutes longer than the theatrical version.
Sotaromaani (2000) was not uncensored, more like unedited. The original book was not censored by the government but was edited by the publisher. It's just normal publishing process. And the editing was mostly approved by the author, Väinö Linna.
Maybe you can call that 2000 version of the book "Authors edition", "original script version" or something like that.
@@taavihorila3879 Cleaning up language and crude humor, removing parts that criticize war, church, hell even Russia, removing parts that made Finnish army look bad... I would say that can be counted as censorship. Sure some editing was actually beneficial in the name of tighter storytelling but some are clearly politically motivated.
@@MaaZeus Yes.
But it was done by the publisher, not by the government. Hence not censorship IMHO
Max Manus (2008) is also excellent. It follows Max Manus and his group of resistance fighters in Oslo. He was one of the few Norwegian volunteers in Finland whoactually saw combat. I've also read his books, and they're really excellent.
I'm a Norwegian with Finnish genes as well.
I really enjoy the quality of recent (10 years) Norwegian war docu-dramas/war movies and I take pride in our people, knowing real life often is more ridiculous than what's shown on screen.
However the Unknown Soldier just really stands out. It's... melancholic. That's the best way to describe it for me.
I also think about all the Finns/Karelians and other peoples who never made it, who were assimilated and Russified and forced to speak another language and to get a Russian passport if they wanted to survive.
Good choice of films here. Land of Mine , though strictly speaking is post war, is also a tense and rather grim anti war film.
If you enjoyed watching ’Land Of Mine’, then I highly recommend the 2021 Danish movie ‘The Shadow in My Eye’.
There's also a miniseries based on the 2017 version of the Unknown Soldier, which contains lots of extra material. I think the total runtime is around 5 hours. That's a real treat too.
Another great Norwegian movie is "Kampen om Narvik" from 2022. It's about, you guessed it, the battle of Narvik in April 1940. It released on Netflix here in Norway about a month or two ago.
Yes, it was a really great movie.
Another great danish movie is April 9. Which covers the German invasion of Denmark. Victory for the Germans was a forgone conclusion but there is a lot good small unit action
I kinda like thr original 1950's version of the unknown soldier more. There most of the actors were real veterans and action scenes are more realistic, because the enemy side is never really shown innthe film.
For example in the original trench scenes, soviet soldiers are only seen when looking through a looking glass at the trench.
I love the unknown soldier. It’s such a deeply anti-war film. It shows the horrors of war while highlighting the bonds between men that can only be created by witnessing those horrors together.
Talvisota *Winter War" is good also
If you ever watch Tahi-Ihantala, and any of the 3 versions of Unknown Soldier, you'll see that they are movies that can't even be compared. Tali-Ihantala is a movie about a battle, while Unknown Soldier is a movie about the people. I bet that also the fact that the other is directed by one of the best Finnish Directors, Aku Louhimies, and is based on writings of Väinö Linna, one of the most infulencial writers of indepentend Finland, who had witnessed and took part in the war.
I went and saw the movie in cinema when it came out. I remember people leaving with tears in their eyes. Especially the ending scene where it just cuts to show a cemetery of fallen heroes, a place that can be found in almost every city or town of Finland. That really grounded the experience for me atleast.
Add "Talvisota" from 1989 to it. It might even be the best one.
While not technically a "WW2" movie the danish picture Under Sandet is just excellent. It deals in the immediate post-war Denmark and the demining of it's long Jylland coast by German POW (kids). I highly recommend it, it's production value is up there with Uknown Soldier.
Great, short review, of all five of these movies. I have all five, and they are indeed very good.
I would also recommend "Talvisota" centered on the Finnish winter war against the attacking Soviet Union.
Why not the Finnish movie : The Ambush?
I'll have to check it out
@@JohnnyJohnsonHistory The orginal title is "Rukajärven tie" The road to Rukajärvi.
I’d also recommend the old timey Danish resistance movie De Røde Enge (The Red Meadows) from 1945 if people can find it with English subs. Mostly for the novelty that the main lead Poul Reichhardt was a resistance fighter during the war, kinda funny considering he was doing 3 to 5 movies a year during the war years while also doing resistance stuff on the side lol.
Another pretty interesting fact about him/the films is also that one of his popular co-stars in later movies was a DNSAP member, so for a while you had both a resistance fighter and former Nazi playing major roles in the same movies, often being presented as either close friends or family members in the stories.
There's a very meaningful Finnish song called Tuntematon Potilas (Unknown Patient) by Arttu Wiskari which is about an old and very demented war veteran whose health and especially memory is declining fast. His memories of the war are mixing up his consciousness and he dies in the song too. The veteran's grandchild also mourns him in the song.
I recommended if you can to watch the series-version of unknown soldier.
It adds even more time to develop the characters and is overall better then the movie IMO.
That KV 1 isn't a mockup but a real KV 1 captured from Russians and up armored.
It is a mockup that was built on a T-55 hull.
@@vesa7069 oh, could have fooled me.
Your channel is great, thanks.
Don't know if you have watched it, but Danish war movie, April 9th is to my mind one of the best nordic movies about WW2. While it has some battle scenes, its merits come from the overall movie and the story it tells.
I'd like to add 2 danish movies to the list.
First is 9th of April, which follows a bicycle detachment through the day of invasion. The movie uses a lack of music to ground the battles, so that you listen for every deadly bullet. While it does not touch on the overall political mess that caused Denmark to only fight for 6 hours, it does show a rather personal view of it.
Second is Under Sandet (which means 'Under the Sand', but the English title is 'Land of Mine'. This movie happens just after the war, where the demining of the Danish west coast began, where Axis POWs were forced to demine the areas, often to horrific results as many of the mines were rigged against being disarmed. There's no grand battles or hard action, only a look at the teenage boys who were forced to pay for crimes they did not commit in a one of Denmark's most resent marks of shame. Bonus fact, Denmark was not declared mine-free until 2012.
The Unknown Soldier the book by Väinö Linna is so great. Even as a teenage girl when we had to read it at school I thought it would be so dull because of the war theme but I totally fell in love with it. If you can find it in English somewhere I can totally recommend it.
I love Tuntematon Sotilas because personally I am extremely anti war and all other conflict. The movie never romanticizes anything and shows the events from normal every day people's eyes. They are authentic people who were truly terrified at the battleground and they felt like real people with families that are waiting back home. They feel like one of them could be my own great great grandfather
Max Manus?
Lupaus - is also good war movie. Very sad and from perspective of women in the war.
there's a new one that came out around a year ago called Narvik
The unknown soldier tv show is much better since its around 4 1/2 hours of content compared to the 1 3/4 hours of the film
I'd include Talvisota (The Winter War) over either of the the two Finnish films you picked.
Arne Shouen was Norways best director between 1945 and 1970. He made several strong war movies, all about thrut storries from WWII. The most famous ones are 'Nødlanding', 'Ni liv' and 'Omringet'. In addition you must include 'Brent jord' among the top movies from the first period of Norwegian WWII movies. The scond period is still going on. There are many great movies the last 20 years.
Tali-Ihantala isn't about characters, it's true events from the battle filmed so that no dramatization really. Something close to documentary.
the best of the Unknown Soldier films is the first released on 1950s.
Hey Johnny boy theres some damm good Hollywood wwtwo movies a list too long to kention
I am not a fan of war movies, but there are good Finnish war movies: "Rukajärven tie" and "Hopeaa rajan takaa". I did not even consider the latter one a war movie, because it takes place during a brief period of peace between Finland and the USSR. There is like a fighting scene that lasts seconds. A family has a silver smith shop at the territory annexed by the USSR and the men are determined to go there and haul the hidden silverware back to the Finnish side of the border.
You missed the actual best Nordic war movie so far: Talvisota/The Winter War.
Check Finnish Talvisota from 1989 (winter war)
"...shows the Finns defending their democracy..."
We fought for the nation and the people, not for a form of government. Everyone knew the Reds would have shipped in large numbers Russians here to weaken homogenous population (like in Baltics) or even killed off our intelligentsia (fate of Poland) had we been occupied by them.
It was an existential struggle for independence, sovereignty and above all the nation.
Unknown Soldier is the best war movie ever. Period.
If you want some classic shows* about WW2 from a Swedish perspective, I'd suggest you try to find "Någonstans i Sverige" and "Fyra dagar som skakade Sverige". These are both very slow, but that really gives one time to recognise how the war shaped Sweden and our national culture.
Talvisota would have been a great one too
I highly recommend ”Gränsen” meaning ”The border” It’s about a unit guarding the border between Sweden and Norway during the occupation. And having a few of the men venturing across the border to take a sneaky look at the Germans (won’t spoil the rest) eventually leading to a rescue operation. VERY good movie
Not max manus?
12th Man is family history, my grandmothers uncle was one of the 11 men captured and executed. The original filmatization from the 50s, 9 Liv (9 Lives), is also well worth a watch. It had Baalsrud on as advisor.
The twelvfth man is a very hollywood version of the events that takes a lot of creative liberties for the sake of creating a more "standard war movie". A recommended version of the events that is more truthful to the story would be Nine Lives from 1957, which tells the story in a much more grounded way.
Another good WW2 Movie is 9 April a movie about the German invasion of Denmark in 1940
*Land of Mine* as it is called in English is a great movie i'd tell everyone to watch.
Not really a war movie though
Talvisota Is also one of the good ones from Finland.
Rukajärven tie or Ambush in english is my favourite
Forgotten Soldier and Inhallata are excellent war movies imo.
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne and the truth. They kicked the red army's ass until superior numbers drove them back.
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne you sure your not commander of the spetznatz comrade
Note about the unknown soldier. There is two versions of this, 1955 original and 2017 version. Still fan of the original, but i recommend watching both if you have time to spare.
aren't there 3 versions? 1955, 1985 and 2017
Three movies have been made. But I can only recommend the first and the newest
there are no mockups in Tali-Ihantala, the KV-1 is a real one Finnish Army captured during the war & has been kept in working condition, the destroyed ISU-152 is probably not in a driving condition, but it IS also a real one & can be found on display at Panssarimuseo close to the Armoured Brigade.
Watch the 5 part Unknown Soldier series.
definitely missed out by not adding the winter war from 1989
unknown sildier 1955 thats really good too
Could I also recommend “Land of Mine.” That’s set in post Second World War Denmark.
hey man, dont know if you have but you should review Baltic ww2 and ww1/independence war movies
There is also April 9th the Invasion of Denmark
Norway has recently released quite a bit of war movies since thia video. I haven't really watched any of them yet tho.
Have you seen the Finnish movie Ambush and Norwegian Max Manus?
It is called Rukajärven tie.
I think it would have been worthwhile to menton that while in a large scale The Unknown Soldier is set in events that happened in real world, the platoon that it follows and the events that happen to them are fictional. It's based on a 1954 novel of the same name by Väinö Linna, and this particular film is the third adaptation.
All of these are exellent especially movies: Kings Choise, Flame and Citroén and Unknown soldier.
Would be interesting to se a movie about swedens situation in the war or swedish voulenteers
i'm Finnish, and the war was a big part of our history. the generational trauma still affects us. russia attacking is an issue to us.