The Winter War
by Pekka Parikka
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DVD details
Director: Pekka ParikkaDVD: Region Code 1
Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled
Running Time: 125 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1990-12-31
DVD Reviews of The Winter War
DVD Review: The war is dreadful
Summary: 4 Stars
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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