#52
Post
by Hanski » 28 Oct 2004, 20:39
The DVD "Suomen sodat -- kesän 1944 torjuntataistelut" (= Finland's Wars -- the defensive battles of summer 1944) is basically a quick way to get an overview of the most important operations all through the retreat phase of the Continuation War since June 1944. The viewer can either see through the entire DVD-video at one go, or there is the option of slight interactiveness, by choosing any one battle of the nine at a time in any order (Valkeasaari, Siiranmäki, Kuuterselkä, Tienhaara, Viipurinlahti, Tali-Ihantala, Vuosalmi, Nietjärvi, Ilomantsi).
The voice narrative in Finnish describes the sequence of events and provides the background information, while on your screen you see clips of relevant authentic wartime documentaries (probably mostly already familiar to Finnish vierwers), photographs, map animations, virtual computer game -like bits with a 3D- illusion as the "camera" moves over battelfields, and interviews of aged eyewitness front line veterans of the battles, including a couple of Soviet veterans. There is really nothing such technically innovative that we would never have seen it previously on TV documentaries. Technically, there were a couple of slight symptoms of jamming of the video image.
The facts are of course based on research, but no references to sources are mentioned in context, so whether for example Kilin's research is integrated, the viewer cannot tell. The operative decisions are described mainly from the Finnish viewpoint.
Of course, there is the phenomenon of "appetite increasing while you eat" - the information could of course always be more detailed and more extensive - like I would have wanted more on the share of the air forces - but overall it is a fair compromise.
The "computer game" animations look just like that -- simplistic, diagrammatic rather than visually spectacular and realistic -- but they do serve a role in adding bits and pieces that do not exist on films.
Of course, if you want detailed facts as tables and statistics, or special topics, established history books will definitely give you more. If you want to grasp the psychological atmosphere, read Linna's Unknown soldier or watch it in Edvin Laine's movie! But as mentioned, this DVD is a more convenient and visual way of getting a quick overview on the course of events, which would take hours of reading and figuring out, or plenty of video cassette winding / rewinding on other media.
