Rukajärven tie (Ambush) (1999)

57% of users liked it
(885 ratings)

The brutal effect of war on ordinary people is the subtext of this World War II drama from Finland. Perkola (Peter Franzen) is the leader of a small Finnish platoon sent on a mission into Russian territory in 1942. Perkola has been terribly upset since he was told that his fiancée, a nurse, was… More The brutal effect of war on ordinary people is the subtext of this World War II drama from Finland. Perkola (Peter Franzen) is the leader of a small Finnish platoon sent on a mission into Russian territory in 1942. Perkola has been terribly upset since he was told that his fiancée, a nurse, was killed in battle. As the war progresses, Perkola finds that he and his men are slowly becoming capable of acts of shocking violence he would have believed unthinkable as a civilian. Rukajarven tie/Ambush received enthusiastic notices for its excellent photography and realistic battle scenes in its screenings at the 1999 Gothenburg Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 3 min.
Directed By: Olli Saarela
Written By: Olli Saarela
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Apr 1, 2002 Wide
On DVD: Apr 23, 2002
Studio: Vanguard

Critic Reviews

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Affecting and wholly accessible, but it is as conventional as it is well-crafted.
Paul Malcolm, L.A. Weekly
[It has] a humanist touch that stands at odds with the film's wholesale demonizing of the scattered Soviet army.
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
A beautifully shot and finely acted movie, thankfully slower in pace than the typical post-Private Ryan American war film.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cynthia S

A really good foreign movie. Plenty of action, and romance. It also had some silly stuff which always makes me like movies even better.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic][color=royalblue]"Ambush" is about a group of Finnish soldiers in a platoon who are invading the Soviet Union in 1941. This is not a bad movie but there is nothing here that we have not seen before, except for the setting, perhaps. Most of the movie… More
[font=Century Gothic][color=royalblue]"Ambush" is about a group of Finnish soldiers in a platoon who are invading the Soviet Union in 1941. This is not a bad movie but there is nothing here that we have not seen before, except for the setting, perhaps. Most of the movie resembles "Platoon" in that these soldiers are wandering into unknown territory against a shadowy enemy. The idyllic beginning is straight out of "Stalingrad." Plus, there is one absolutely unbelievable moment late in the film.[/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#4169e1][/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#4169e1]Some of the soldiers mention a "Winter War" which got me to do some research online at Wikipedia. The "Winter War" was an opening act in World War II, as the Soviet Union as part of its pact with Germany, sought to recapture Finland which had become independent in 1917. "Ambush" takes place at the beginning of the "Continuation War" which would extend to 1944. So, it seems that these two conflicts could be seen more as a continuing conflict between the two countries, rather than as a major part of World War II.[/color][/font]