New movie has a pacifistic take on legendary Finnish story

The celebration of Finland’s 100th Independence Day marked the completion of a remake of a legendary film based on a legendary book, “The Unknown Soldier.” This 2017 movie was the most expensive movie production in the history of Finland, with a budget of 7 million euros, and the film was the first Finnish movie to surpass 1 million viewers at the cinema in the last 50 years.

This popularity wasn’t necessarily a surprise. The first “Unknown Soldier” movie is shown on Finnish TV every Independence Day and it is a traditional part of many families’ Independence Day celebration. Also, even though the story is fictional, for many it is the closest link to the war fought between Finland and Russia during the Second World War.

And, folks in the Copper Country can see for themselves why this film is so significant, as it’ll be showing on Thursday, February 14 at 2 and 6 p.m. as part of the Finlandia University Finnish American Heritage Center’s Nordic Film Series.

The newest version of “Unknown Soldier,” directed by famous and awarded Finnish director Aku Louhimies, was a huge success in Finland. Despite being a fictional story the movie tells about the war in a quite realistic manner, but is still up-to-date in a way that it got also praise from the young adults of Finland.

The film is approximately three hours long, and is in Finnish with English subtitles. It has been rated “16” in Finland, which roughly means rated R in the Unites States. The screening is open to the public and donations are appreciated.

For further information, call (906) 487-7506.