Tuntematon sotilas (The Unknown Soldier)
2017
****
Director: Aku Louhimies
Cast: Eero Aho, Johannes Holopainen, Jussi Vatanen, Aku Hirviniemi, Hannes Suominen, Paula Vesala, Samuli Vauramo, Joonas Saartamo, Arttu Kapulainen, Andrei Alén, Juho Milonoff, Matti Ristinen, Diana Pozharskaya
Väinö Linna's 1954 novel, which follows soldiers of a Finnish machine gun company during the Continuation War (1941-1944) against the Soviet Union, has been adapted to the screen roughly every 30 years. This gripping and visually rich third adaptation, which was scripted by Aku Louhimies and Jari Olavi Rantala, adds more realism to the fighting and shows its effects on the men and the home front. Other than that, it features characters, scenes, and lines of dialogue, which are overly familiar from the 1955 and 1985 versions. Eero Aho is terrific in the lead, and the rest of the cast are not bad either.
