Karelian Cowgirls

Karelian Cowgirls

***1/2

Reviewed by: Amber Wilkinson

Mintu Mäntynen takes as her subject three women who, as teenagers, during the Finland’s Winter War - when the Soviet Red Army invaded the Karelia area of the country – were told to flee, driving their cattle into the brutal interior of the country.

Annikki, Inkeri and Hilkka are sprightly pensioners now but recall the events of that freezing cold winter quite clearly. One talks of the calves freezing as they left their mother’s bodies, another remembers returning back to her farmhouse after losing the cows. Their strength of character shines through.

Copy picture

Mäntynen has a good eye for composition and captures the evocative landscape of Finland, hinting at the arduous environment the women had to endure. They, too, through their testimony paint a vivid picture of a cold, hard winter, that has gone on to have echoes through their lives. Informative and intelligent.

Reviewed on: 25 Jun 2008
Share this with others on...
Karelian Cowgirls packshot
Three women recall their part in the Winter War in Finland, in 1939.

Director: Mintu Mäntynen

Year: 2008

Runtime: 11 minutes

Country: UK

Festivals:


Search database:



DJDT

Versions

Time

Settings from settings.local

Headers

Request

SQL queries from 1 connection

Templates (9 rendered)

Cache calls from 2 backends

Signals