Tali-Ihantala 1944

The Russo-Finnish war really caught my attention. Therefore, immediately after watching the film Beyond the Front Line, I watched its stand-alone sequel, which is supposed to tell the story of the final and most important battle of the Finns with the Soviets. I have to say that from the technical aspect the creators again did an outstanding job. They shot down about a thousand tons of forests and with that created the ultimate atmosphere of war. On the other hand, the technologies are redeemed by a basically accurate history told in a documentary way, which emphasizes the individual moments, but completely omits the stories of the characters themselves. If I considered the previous instalment to be quite impersonal, then this one is completely beyond the line. It is rather a filmed documentary than a regular movie. Still, it took an enormous amount of work. Hats off to the Finns for the way they defended their country. Defense like this was rarely seen in the Second World War. Especially when you remember how the individual countries at the beginning of the war in the Blitzkrieg lost after less than a month. (18/05/2014)

Having seen several Finnish war films before, today's entry certainly didn't rank among the best. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it did suffer from some noticeable flaws. The extras were bustling around Finnish forests from left to right and vice versa with great diligence, yet the story felt somewhat incomplete to me. It seemed like a collection of randomly assembled episodes with a plethora of characters, leaving me unable to establish any real connection because the creators didn't allow for that. However, I must give credit to the intelligently inserted archival footage, which did benefit the plot. In my opinion, the Finns could have put more effort into the film; the bravery and abilities of their soldiers definitely deserved better representation. / Lesson learned: Let the Panzerfaust breathe freely. (15/03/2022)