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THE WINTER WAR (Talvisota)Rating:
Release Date: 31 December, 1990 Retail Price: $45.00 OUR Price: $45.00 You SAVE: $0.00! |
THE WINTER WAR (Talvisota) Reviews
Great combat scenes but some boring parts
This is an okay movie. It tells the extremely dramatic story of Finnland's heroic resistance against the Soviet invasion of 1939 (this, by the way, is one of the things that the Russians would like you to forget about when they assert that they essentially won World War II on their own).
Anyway, the combat scenes are impressive for a film made in 1989. However, unless you speak Finnish, you're likely to get bored and start pressing the fast forward buttton when Talvisota gives you a series of verbose scenes at the beginning that last almost a half hour. There are several shorter (mercifully) interruptions punctuating the combat.
I've often wondered why Hollywood has never made a film about the brave fight that the Finns put up against the Russians. It would seem to me that the story would have the same appeal that "Braveheart" did. But then, I'm not a Hollywood producer.
The bottom line: If you can't rent it, I'd recommend buying it used (like I did). It simply isn't worth 45 dollars brand new.
Superb Film about a Defining Moment in Finnish History
"Winter War" (Talvisota in Finnish)is the story of the 1939-40 Russo-Finnish War seen through the eyes of a reserve infantry unit. We see them leaving their farms on mobilization, to assembly at the border, and follow them into battle until the armistice some 110 days later. To most Americans who know anything about it, the Winter War is visions of Sissi skiing rings around Russians. True that did happen, but the majority of Finnish units operated conventionally either in the Mannerheim Line or to the North/North East of it. This is what this film describes. The battle scenes are as authentic as any in Saving Private Ryan; if memory serves the "Soviet" Forces are Russian extras. Vehicles, weapons, uniforms are all entirely accurate. It's probably fair to consider this movie as Finland's SPR. Whereas some have criticized SPR for it's somewhat contrived plot, this movie has none of that; simply citizen soldiers called to save their nation. We watch as more and more of their friends are killed and wounded, in relentless Red Army assaults. This sense of loss is brought home again simply, but elegantly, in the scenes with the "home front". The final anticlimatic news of the armistice on the troops is depressing to see, but again entirely accurate. This film is a fitting tribute to the Finnish "Greatest Generation" who also did nothing less than save their nation- twice in 5 years from Soviet enslavement.
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