Anyone see this finnish movie?

[gunnergoz]

Nor do they have first hand experience of the attrocities committed by the partisans.

Right...those nasty partisans, who for no good reason were resisting the humane visit to their country by the German Peace Corps. Heaven knows why these resistance types get all worked up about a few burned villages and villagers...

Given the fact the movie is a Soviet era production I think it is safe to say "C&S was a pretty fair rendition of how they think and feel about the era" as told by the Soviet government. After all Byelorussia was also the scene of the one of the most widespread post-war anti-Soviet resistance in the USSR.

By the time this movie was made, the Soviets had little, if anything to say about movie plots and scripts...they had their hands full with a failing economy and rebellious regions.

C&S is not by any means Oscar material - I never claimed that - I only said the film gave voice to how many FSR people felt about and recalled an era. Given that my wife's Ukrainian family is pretty typical, in that 5 of 7 male family members who went to war, never returned home alive, and knowing how the family still grieves over the losses, I'd venture to say that the film was right on the money as a depiction of collective memory and anguish.

If, on the other hand, one finds more reason to grieve for the aggressor than the aggrieved, then perhaps C&S is best perceived as a steaming pile of whatever...

[Tero]

By gunnergoz

Right...those nasty partisans, who for no good reason were resisting the humane visit to their country by the German Peace Corps. Heaven knows why these resistance types get all worked up about a few burned villages and villagers...

This is getting way off topic but what the hell....

Selected tidbits from partisans in WikiTruth on partisan activities against civilian targets.

Although the Soviet partisan leadership was officially hostile to the independent nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), local partisan commanders sometimes established neutral relations with its groups. However, during 1941-1942 and after 1943 both sides set out to destroy the other. Soviet partisans also targeted families, assistants and supporters of the Ukrainian members of the Waffen-SS Division Galizien (Galicia).

Seems to me in C&S the SS could have been replaced by the partisans in the role of the bad guys.

..... In East Karelia most partisans attacked Finnish military supply and communication targets, but on the Finnish side of the border, almost two thirds of the attacks targeted civilians,[30] killing 200 and injuring 50, mostly women, children and elderly.[31][32][33] On several occasions the partisans executed all civilians, not wanting anyone to witness the atrocities. One such incident was the partisan attack of Lämsänkylä, Kuusamo, that took place on July 18, 1943, in which the partisans attacked a lonely house and killed all of the seven civilians there, including a six-month-old baby and a three-year-old child, before fleeing.[30]

The partisan operations against Finns were estimated as being highly ineffectual. Already in the autumn of 1941 the report of Komissariat of Interior Affairs was highly critical, and it became only worse as the report of counter intelligence agency at April 1944 states. The main explanations which were given to the failure of the operations were the isolated headquarters at Belomorsk which did not know what operative units were doing, personnel which had no local knowledge and were partly made up of criminals (10-20% of all personnel were conscripted from prisons)

WARNING Graphic photos from Finnish victims of one partisan attack

I disagree. Even today partisans are revered heroes in Russia. Their helo shalt not be tarnished under any circumstances. Even when there is evidence of war crimes they committed.

Totally agreed on the collective memory and anguish bit. Just wanted to remind that collective memories can fail or be selective just like personal ones.

Agreed. Then again I dare say the US remake of Stalker is nowhere near as good as the original version. It takes a certain level of knowledge of basic Russian frame of mind to get into the necessary mood to watch Russian movies.

Ceterum Censceo: C&S and Tali-Ihantala can not be compared with eachother.