Raja 1918

This is a refreshing drama taking on issues "off the beaten track" of the main stream Finnish historical dramas.

It is spring of 1918. The Finnish war of independence is over. The war had turned into a bloody civil war between whites and reds. A young scientist and officer, captain von Munck, is sent to close the border between the newly independent Finland and Russia under Bolshevik revolution. St. Petersbourg is close, only 40 km away and foreign, Russian and Finnish refugees, spies and revolutionaries try to cross the border to Finland.

The young man must set up a clear border between Finland and Russia, white and red, enemy and friend, us and them. While the task seems clear he finds out the execution of his command in concrete situations is very difficult. Right choices turn out to be wrong ones and correcting them make things worse.

This historical war movie is the border that most other war movies take for granted. There is a border, there is us and them. This is clear - also in this movie - but where is the border, where is the "thin red line" right here and now? In the story the border, us and them ,is moving from situation to another, from place to another.

The movie has some technical flaw but the script and editing work well. As a description of the situation after 1918 civil war this is a rare filmatisation. I would recommend movie makers to look slightly of the beaten track when choosing historical war and drama topics.