Aka - Activists
This seems an appropriate time to watch a film about Finland seeking their
independence from Russia in 1916. Russia and Sweden had fought over Finland
for years in the 1700's but Russia gained control in the early 1800s and
made Finland a Duchy of Russia. Towards the end of the 19th century Russia
embarked on a policy to more actively integrate Finland into Russia. Nationalism
and religious fervor began to get a strong foothold in Finland and an underground
was formed. That is where this film begins. It is likely no coincidence that
this was produced in 1939 because Finland was once again at war with Russia.
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Russia and Germany had given Russia control
of the Baltic states. They demanded to have military bases in those nations
- all agreed except Finland and so Russia invaded Finland in November 1939.
The Soviet Union did not do well in the war. It all sounds a bit familiar.
The film focuses on a small group in the underground who are trying to steal
documents from the Russian military. As you would expect the film exudes
patriotism and God. They throw a nice romance in as well. All things considered
this is a fairly mild depiction of the action against the Russians and surprisingly
the Russians are not entirely evil - even a little comical who love to drink,
sing and dance. One of the my favorite parts was during a dance at a ball
in which the period DJ kept calling out a different dance and the people
had to quickly adjust. For an underground they don't seem to be committing
any acts of terrorism and there is only one shoot-out.
Much of the plot revolves around Gregoir (Tauno Majuri) a Finn in the Russian
army. He meets the daughter (Helena Kara) of a collaborator and she immediately
hates him for betraying his country. He is of course part of the underground.
Neither are the best spies - she leaves an incriminating key in the Colonel's
apartment and he leaves top secret documents that he stole in his briefcase
- and so they go on the run. Things look dark and then . . . the Russian
Revolution and the Russians turn on their commanders and just want to go
home. Finland gained its independence and almost immediately went into a
civil war between Whites and Reds. In this case though the Whites won. Of
interest more for its history than the film itself which is fairly bland.
As a note - the other female lead in the film who betrays Gregoir is played
by Tuulikki Paananen (try pronouncing that) who was in The Leopard Man and
a few episodes of Hawaii 5-0! She also starred in the Finnish film Stolen
Death also about fighting the Tsar and it is considered a classic Finnish
pre-war film.
