Tali-Ihantala 1944 centres on the largest land
battle in Nordic history, the defensive victory achieved by the Finns at Tali-Ihantala on the Karelian isthmus against a massive Russian onslaught. Unfortunately, the
massiveness never comes across: the film is a succession of small skirmishes in
the woods, intercut occasionally with solemn generals at HQ pondering the size
of their task and explanatory notes in the form of maps and text. It approaches
the history incredibly respectfully, with few concessions to drama, and this
includes sketching most of the interchangeable characters in only cursory
detail. It's quite ironic that the evil totalitarian invader, having lost most
of the battles in the actual war, should after the war have won most of the cinematic
comparisons over the same ground.
4/10
No comments:
Post a Comment