Annals of history are a long story of a sea of blood... It is difficult to argue. There is virtually not a single remote corner of Europe where nobody has ever spilled someone's blood. No surprise that today, there are so many relatively small countries on this small continent with fancifully indented coasts. And all these states were always at loggerheads with each other, time and again recarving the map, taking neighbours up, conquering them, decaying themselves as a result of civil dissension
Heaven knows how many world wars (Pan-European at least!) Europe, that cradle of nationalism, has suffered historically! But there were considered to be just 2 world wars: the most monstrous ones, both having wiped away from the face of the earth tens of millions of people and a few empires as well!
When thinking about all this, one is willy-nilly likely to become filled with a holy terror; as one tries to imagine oneself were among those 'cogs in the machine' whom POWERS THAT BE dispatch with one dread glance to that dead waste which is called war. And war has almost nothing to do with anything humanistic; 'almost' – because some people do try by-passing the martial laws and helping neighbour, but are usually exposed and executed
And war is normally a survival-of-the-fittest (or, appreciably less likely, a survival-of-the-sliest) environment. It is unlikely that a feeble, meek one would survive the war
All these conspicuous facts have been shown in the said Russian-Finnish film. Such films are useful. They cynically break the rose-coloured specs people see through and wipe false smiles away from the faces of the of diplomats. Even such a tiny and seemingly odd land as Finland had to suffer world wars to suit its own ends and at least repeated its lesson of hatred according to the high (not the highest though) standards. Constrained between Scylla and Charybdis, i.e. Russia and Sweden, this nation has suffered centuries-old confused state, in terms of language as well: whether to speak own autochthonal Finnish tongue, or Russian, or Swedish. Partly, lingual situation is still in a turmoil in Finland, but how awful it was then, in 1918, when one might be even shot and killed for improper accent! The most frantic daredevils in the Finnish society would go to work and discriminate 'aliens' against; and even set a shining example to those hesitant about whether to destroy 'aliens' or not. He that is not with his nation is against it, said the daredevils to those who did not mind the existing priorities – thus making them to participate in giving short shrift to Russians (representatives of Finland's former 'parent state') and to their local Finnish sidekicks. Little Finland suffered its own Civil War simultaneously with Russia, and just like in Russia, it was fought between the "Whites" (anti-Soviet forces, which were backed by several Western powers) and the "Reds" (Communist forces), but the result was quite the opposite. The German-backed "Whites" beat the "Reds" all to ribands and the White Terror beat the Red one to nothing.
I am quite confused to describe how much I was impressed by this film
It is fearful simply because it touches upon relatively little-known events which are difficult to be grasped with mind and which unsheathe just one conjecture. That is, no nation on earth boasts clean hands. Some always die so that others live. You would not wish living "in the wrong place at the wrong time" on your worst enemy.
I was petrified of this film
