During World War II Finland and Soviet Union had two seperate conflicts with Winter War being the first one. This grand spectacle from 1989 tells about one group of soldiers defending their father land during the titular conflict and… that’s pretty much it. But at least it’s grand and tries to be artistic once in a while.
Comments from Previous Manic Expression Site
SOJA: This movie does look beautiful, even in the time of war, the visuals are quite stunning. The acting sounds pretty good from everyone too. I might check out more of the directors work too. Good review
BigBlackHatMan: I really enjoy a good historical epics and this one looks like a decent one. I also admit to knowing very little about the Winter War other than it happened and the Germans thought it was a sure sign they could defeat a weak Russia. Good video
HedonisticActor: Unfortunately director Pekka Parikka managed to complete only three feature films before his death in 1997 although he had done over 20 years of television work before his feature debut Ostrobothnia (1988) which I recommend. I haven’t seen the last film he directed, The Way to a Woman’s Heart (1996), but its premise – a journalist is accidently put on a mental institution where he meets a woman who claims to being kept there by force so he starts to investigate – sounds interesting.
SOJA: Oh dear god. Poor Parikka.. Well at least The Way to a Woman’s Heart sounds interesting enough but I’ll try to find Ostrobothnia too. I’m quite a sucker for stories about secrets and institutionalized nut balls who aren’t real nut balls.
