The Unknown Soldier

The Unknown Soldier (Finnish: Tuntematon sotilas, Swedish: Okänd soldat) is a 2017 Finnish war drama independent film and the third adaption of the 1954 bestselling Finnish classic novel of the same name by Väinö Linna, a book considered part of national legacy. Directed by Aku Louhimies, it is the first one based on the novel's manuscript version, Sotaromaani ("the war novel"). The previous two film adaptations were released in 1955 and 1985. The World War II film follows a machine gun company (Finnish: konekiväärikomppania) of the Finnish Army from a frog perspective during the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944. It was the most expensive Finnish motion picture at its release with a budget of 7 million euros. The film opened to mixed reviews domestically on 27 October 2017 as a part of the official 100th anniversary of Finnish independence program, breaking the opening weekend record for a local-language film. The international premier was on 23 November 2017 at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, followed by Ireland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway. The film was described by critics as gritty, forlorn, honest and realistic as well as a pacifist piece confronting less pleasant sides of Finnish history. The film won four Jussi Awards for the Best Actor (Aho), along with Best Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Sound Editing from a total of eleven nominations. With a 13.5 million euro domestic gross at the 2017 box office, it was the most successful film of the year in Finnish cinema.