Tali-Ihantala 1944 (2007)

Directors:

Åke Lindman
Sakari Kirjavainen (co-director)

Writers:

Stefan Forss (written by) and
Benedict Zilliacus (written by)

Release Date:

7 December 2007 (Finland)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Continuation War

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Rauno Ahonen	...	Lieutenant Colonel
Mikkomarkus Ahtiainen
Frank Biermann
Jussi Brech
Mikko Bredenberg	...	Captain Carl-Birger Kvikant
Riko Eklundh	...	Colonel Sven Björkman
Marc Gassot	...	Sergeant Reino Lehväslaiho
Marcus Groth	...	Major General Ruben Lagus
Johan Hallström	...	Second Lieutenant Thorbjörnsson
Kari Hevossaari	...	Lieutenant Puhakka
Aku Hirviniemi
Antti Holma
Jani Honkaselkä
Markku Hyvönen	...	Lance Corporal Ville Väisänen
Janne Hyytiäinen	...	Major of Air-force

Also Known As:

Mihin vapaat miehet pystyvät (Finland) (working title)
Tali-Ihantala (Finland) (short title)
Vad fria män vörmå (Finland: Swedish title) (working title)
Slaget om Finland (Sweden) [sv]
Tali-Ihantala - Slaget om Finland (Sweden) [sv]
Tali-Ihantala 1944 - Slaget om Finland (Sweden) [sv]

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

Finland

Language:

Finnish | Swedish | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Finland

Company:

Åke Lindman Film-Productions

Trivia:

Director Åke Lindman got seriously ill during the filming. He let editor Sakari Kirjavainen finish the picture.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Mannerheim: Perhaps I should go to bed.

Soundtrack:

Oi kallis Suomenmaa

No real characters, no real drama

Tali-Ihantala 1944 tells the story of the climactic final battles of the Finnish-Russian Continuation war. The official, polished story, the kind you would expect some veterans organization to approve: the major events of the battle are shown in chronological order. We see the action of infantry, tanks, long range recon patrols, artillery, air force, and different levels of command. All soldiers and officers behave well and correctly, there is no bad behavior or cowardice whatsoever.

This is one of the films major problems: the clean and tidy behavior of the troops is very likely historically inaccurate and false, but it is also very bad drama. We see endless orders, discussions and briefings without any conflict or tension between the characters. And the cast is huge: most people have only one or two scenes, they come and go without anyone developing any real character (Olli Ikonen perhaps comes closest as General Major Vihma). You cannot develop much compassion to these fighting and dying men when you don't know anything about them. The dialogue is poor: people describe the tactical situation in a textbook manner, and most attempts at more casual conversation fall laughably flat. "So, you receive your baptism of fire now!"

The obvious budget limitations have been commented by other reviewers. This film is a failure, recommended for fans of T 34 and KV tanks.