Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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194 of 200 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb Film about a Defining Moment in Finnish History, August 8, 2000
"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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118 of 122 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent & Historically Accurate, February 16, 2002
The Winter War is the most historically accurate and realistic war film I have seen. During the film, we follow the lives of a small group of friends as they find themselves in the frontlines facing a soviet invasion. All aspects of the movie are well conceived and finely filmed. The best aspect of the Winter War, however, is the fact that there are no underlying subplots. Unlike Saving Private Ryan (which I must admit I also thought was excellent), the characters do not spend the movie attempting to accomplish an unlikely (albeit intellectually satisfying) objective. Rather, the characters try to stay alive, protect their friends, and follow orders as real soldiers might. Another very compelling aspect of the film is it's historical accuracy. Tactics and equipment all correspond to those employed by Russia and Finland in 1939. T-26 tanks, I-16 fighters, and human wave attacks fill out the Russian Arsenal, while the Fins remain on the defensive aside from local counter attacks. Adding to the realism is the fact that much of movie is filmed in a limited geographic area. This allows the viewer to become familiar with local terrain features in a way that few other films permit. Hence, the viewer begins to sense the directions from which attacks might come and beings to get a feeling of what constitutes a "Full-scale Attack," a "Probe," etc. Overall, I would highly recommend the Winter War to anyone who enjoys war films or who is interested in Military History. Due to the lack of subplots, however, people simply looking for an action film or for a simple diversion are likely to be disappointed.
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71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The war is dreadful, December 8, 2005
it is the business of the artist to follow it home to the heart of the individual fighters-not to talk in armies and nations and numbers-but to track it home. D.H. Lawrence
The Russo-Finnish War, known as "The Winter War", began on November 30, 1939 when the Red Army invaded Finland. The war began after the Finns refused demands from Stalin to move its borders 25 kilometers back from Leningrad. The basis for this demand was the fear on the part of Stalin and the Soviet High Command that Hitler could launch an invasion of the USSR directed at Leningrad using Finland as a base for its attack. The Winter War ended by means of a truce signed on March 12, 1940. During this brief three-month war a Finnish army consisting of 180,000 men, most of them reservists waged a defensive battle against an advancing Soviet army of about 450,000 men. Fighting from entrenched positions against full-frontal assaults resulted in the death of close to 23,000 Finnish soldiers. At the same time more than 126,000 Soviet soldiers were killed or missing and another 264,000 were wounded. This short war had a dramatic impact on the future course of the Second World War (the Winter War took place during the `phony war' period between the occupation of Poland and the commencement of Germany's invasion of France). The horrifying losses suffered by the Red Army were a reflection of the chaos caused by purges of the military that practically eliminated every professional officer from the Red Army. This vulnerability could only have encouraged Hitler in making his decision to invade the USSR in June 1941. Finnish film director Pekka Parikka's 1989 film "The Winter War" is an exceptionally well made movie about this little-known (at least to me) war. The film is not about armies fighting armies as much as it is about the individual fighters who, collectively, are called upon to wage war against an invading army.
Parikka's film follows the war through the eyes of a small platoon of reservists called up from their village to fight the war. It begins with their mobilization and their trip to the front lines through three months of brutal and bloody fighting. The film appears to be very accurate from a historic perspective. The reservists are shown being issued incomplete, if any, uniforms, and finding gear and supplies when and if they can. The Finns, lacking in anti-tank weaponry invented the Molotov Cocktail to use against Soviet mechanized divisions and the film shows these ad hoc weapons being used to great effect. Particularly well done are the scenes that show the impact of the war on the rather stoic inhabitants of the platoon's village.
The Winter War is a straight-forward narrative of the war and how it was fought. It has a particular emphasis on the ugly reality of war. It is not for the squeamish. The film is not an examination of the souls or characters of the people that fought the war. This is true even of the principal actors. The characters in the film are involved in fighting a war, they are not there to engage in discussions of the meaning of life. However, I thought the film was very well done and certainly worth watching. Those with an interest in war films generally or interested in well made films that cover corners of our history that is not overly familiar to them should find this a rewarding film to watch. I've seen plenty of movies about the D-Day landings, the Battle of the Bulge, and the like. This is the first film I've seen on the Russo-Finnish war.
A word about the price. This DVD contains no extra features and is not in letterbox format. Although it is an excellent movie I cannot advise anyone to buy it at the current list price of $45.00. I purchased a new copy through an Amazon marketplace vendor and paid 1/3 of the list price. At that price it is a 5-star film. At the list price I think the viewer may feel that he has paid a bit too much. That is ultimately why I rated this film 4 stars and not 5.
L. Fleisig
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