Akseli and Elina

The film is set in Finland. The civil war has ended. Akseli Koskela was on the red side in it. Because of that he was held in a camp. In the end he is pardoned and released. He goes straight back to his village. His wife Elina had been waiting for him. His parents are at home as well. The welcome is warm. But the mood of the village does not go back to what it was. The war goes on in people’s minds. The anger of the workers sits under the surface. Akseli cannot forget what he saw either. The film was adapted from a novel by Väinö Linna. That novel is the last volume of a trilogy. Aarno Sulkanen and Ulla Eklund take the leads in Edvin Laine’s Finnish film of 1970.