Unknown Soldier (2017)

Interesting facts

• Budget: €7M
• Based on: Sotaromaani and The Unknown Soldier
• Filmed in: Kymenlaakso, North Karelia, Helsinki, Suomenlinna, Kuhmo, and Helsinki Cathedral
• Awards: 0 · Nominations: 1

The Unknown Soldier is a 2017 Finnish independent war drama film, an adaptation of the bestselling 1954 Finnish classic novel of the same name by Väinö Linna, literature considered part of the national legacy. Directed by Aku Louhimies, it is the first one based on the novel's manuscript version, Sotaromaani. Previously adapted in 1955 and 1985, the World War II film is presented from the point of view of a machine gun company of the Finnish Army 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.

Production

Development of The Unknown Soldier began in September 2014 when the Finnish Film Foundation granted 30,000 euros to Aku Louhimies' production company and his plan to base the film on the original novel's manuscript version Sotaromaani ("the war novel"), released in 2010.

With a budget of 7 million euros, The Unknown Soldier became the most expensive film ever made in Finland or in the Finnish language. Producers pitched the film to investors with the script alone and funding for the film was fully secured in August 2015 with €5 million of the financing coming from private investors, such as video game company Supercell, banking group LähiTapiola and foundations.

Filming commenced on 6 June 2016 and was shot in 80 days with over 3,000 extras and the support of the Finnish Defence Forces at locations around Finland, such as Suomenlinna fortress and North Karelia wilderness with most of the battle scenes done at Karelia Brigade training area. Initially, over 14,000 people volunteered as extras.

The cast, of whom some had prior conscript military experience, went through boot camp training arranged by the auxiliary National Defence Training Association on wilderness skills, how to keep warm during winter and how to move with cross-country skis in a forest. Louhimies wanted "people to feel and understand how it is and feel to be at war". The cast slept at scene locations in stove-warmed military tents, mimicking an actual war-time unit.

The soundtrack of the film was composed by Lasse Enersen (with whom Louhimies had cooperated before) and recorded with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra at Sibelius Hall. Louhimies wanted the music to display "soul and fragility" while Enersen described it as "simple, stark, sometimes raw and ugly" and left out themes of heroism or victory from the score.

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