"Under the North Star" by Väinö Linna is one of the shining classics of Finnish literature. Up until 2009, the only cinematic interpretation of the masterpiece was the dismal attempt of Edvin Laine, which just leaves the viewer wondering what might be happening on the screen and why, if they have not read the book.
You must admit however, that movie makers are facing a near impossible task translating this book onto the big screen. There's 1000 pages of words that knit together the life, death, strife and joy of an entire Finnish rural parish from a time span of 60 years, with great emphasis on the social issues that slowly tore the Finnish society in two hostile factions, the brief but brutal civil war those factions fought immediately after independence was secured and the painfully slow recovery from it. Just how do you squeeze that into any comfortable number of hours without compromising the story? Well, you don't, as we see in this movie. Director Timo Koivusalo really does the best he can, but with so much golden source material, he's really in trouble because he tries to fit it all in. He does a decent job telling the story of the Koskela family of tenant farmers, the very central characters of the story. However, many of the minor characters that are almost equally as important, and so masterfully described in the book are mere caricatures here. The tensions that eventually erupt violently in the parish and the entire country after slowly building up for decades are quite simply present from the beginning.
With more than a three hours runtime, the movie still feels like it's sprinting through the plot points to get them all covered. It's more illustration than interpretation. Regardless, it's still the best cinematic version we have of the book that was written 50 years ago and still counts among the best that were ever written in Finnish. To do justice to this film, you might say that it's not painful to watch, but not very good either. If you only have three hours to spare, watch it. If you have more and want some magic, read the book.
You must admit however, that movie makers are facing a near impossible task translating this book onto the big screen. There's 1000 pages of words that knit together the life, death, strife and joy of an entire Finnish rural parish from a time span of 60 years, with great emphasis on the social issues that slowly tore the Finnish society in two hostile factions, the brief but brutal civil war those factions fought immediately after independence was secured and the painfully slow recovery from it. Just how do you squeeze that into any comfortable number of hours without compromising the story? Well, you don't, as we see in this movie. Director Timo Koivusalo really does the best he can, but with so much golden source material, he's really in trouble because he tries to fit it all in. He does a decent job telling the story of the Koskela family of tenant farmers, the very central characters of the story. However, many of the minor characters that are almost equally as important, and so masterfully described in the book are mere caricatures here. The tensions that eventually erupt violently in the parish and the entire country after slowly building up for decades are quite simply present from the beginning.
With more than a three hours runtime, the movie still feels like it's sprinting through the plot points to get them all covered. It's more illustration than interpretation. Regardless, it's still the best cinematic version we have of the book that was written 50 years ago and still counts among the best that were ever written in Finnish. To do justice to this film, you might say that it's not painful to watch, but not very good either. If you only have three hours to spare, watch it. If you have more and want some magic, read the book.