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Customer Reviews of THE WINTER WAR (Talvisota)

Superb Historically Accurate Flik
This movie is about as accurate a depiction of a historical event as you are going to find. Despite what Mr. Kessel has to say, the portrayals of the Soviet soldiers as "cardboard cutouts" are authentic. That is exactly the way the war was fought in Karelia. The Soviet troops advanced in human waves, utterly indifferent to casualties. Some Finnish soldiers collapsed from physical and psychological exhaustion after inflicting such horrendous casualties on the Russians in just one day of battle. There were even instances of Russian soldiers being forced to link arms and set off across mine fields to clear them for the next wave of troops to come through. As for the Mannerheim Line: Check your facts Sir. The Mannerheim line did not get breeched until mid-February 1940 after two and a half months of relentless artillery and air bombardment and that with the Finns short of ammunition and anti-tank weapons. <
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>As for the movie itself, a warning to those of you looking for an oscar winning tour de' force (God I hate that term) in the American sense; this movie is not for you. It is very foreign in its presentation (and music) but that only enhances its authenticity instead of turning it into Enemy at the Gates, e.g. Its not Englishmen or Yanks playing Russians and Germans but Finns playing Finns and Russians playing Russians. <
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>For military and history buffs who will appreciate the beauty seeing an authentic T-26 tank in action of half-scale models of DB-3's, SB-2's and I-16's making ground attack runs, this movie is a definite must see.

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"None of us will come back alive."
Pekka Parikka's masterpiece "Talvisota" (The Winter War) is one of the most brutally realistic war films ever made, providing viewers with a gut-wrenching view of a bloody war fought in trenches, foxholes, bunkers, and bomb craters. Based on the wartime journals of the 23rd Finnish Infantry Regiment and veterans' memoirs, it tells the story of the Winter War through their eyes. Some viewers may find it annoying that there is no real protagonist in this film. Characters are hard to distinguish from one another in the harsh setting, but that is precisely the director's point: The hero in this film is the entire Finnish army, which fought on for over 100 days against the vastly larger Soviet army. <
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>The battle scenes in "Talvisota" are amazingly realistic. The terror of a Russian frontal attack with huge masses of infantry is shown again and again, and you realize that these brave Finns fought against such unbelievable odds for so long. Aside from Russian infantry assaults, they also had to deal with brutal artillery and ariel bombardments. From the Soviet fighter planes and tanks to the Finnish army equipment, everything looks authentic in this film, something that history buffs will appreciate. Not all viewers will enjoy the director's techniques in retelling this incredible story from World War Two, but I consider it one of the greatest war films ever made and highly recommend it.

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Who are these guys?
This movie is a terrible example of a war film. While it is very proud of its photage of soldiers exploding, getting incinerated, shot, etc., one never gets to know ANYONE in this movie! In Saving Private Ryan, the viewer had a much better chance of getting to know the soldiers, and it mattered more as they got killed. In the Winter War, there is so little characterization that the deaths mean nothing at all, and what little we see of the Finns at home makes it hard to like or sympathize with them. I myself found it difficult to even differentiate the different Finnish charachters except through facial hair! The Russian soldiers are also poorly portrayed, showing no fear, courage, or anything for that matter! They serve merely as cardboard cut-outs to get gunned down by the Finns. The ending is preposterous as well, after the endlessly dull bombardment of the handful of survivors, we suddenly are treated to the sight of thousands of cheering finnish soldiers. Where the heck were they? Hiding somewhere along with the casts' personalities? And for enthusiasts info, despite what other reviewers have written, the Manneheim line got overrun early in the war in most sectors of the front, and it was the tactic of motti that was more effective (and which the Russians later copied).