"WHITE DEATH"

Screenplay by Marko Naumanen FIFTH DRAFT 27.03.2015

© 2015 Marko Naumanen [email protected]

"White Death" FADE IN: EXT. WHITE FOREST - DAY We see a Karelian forest full of snow and ice. Snow crystals linger in the air, pine trees throw long shadows. SUPER:

KOLLAA, FINLAND. 1939.

Three Red Army soldiers passing through the forest. We hear the rumble of heavy artillery far away, but this part of the forest is quiet. Suddenly, a rifle shot hits the first soldiers chest. The other two run for cover behind the trees, left and right. SECOND SOLDIER Kukushka! Belaya Smert! Second shot, the soldier on the left gets a bullet in his leg and crashes into snow. Third rifle shot rips bark off the pine in front of the third soldier. He sees the second soldier crawling on the snow, leaving a blood trail. A fourth shot hits the crawling soldier in the face. The third soldier still cannot see where the shots are coming. He waits, hands shaking, then throws his rifle away and raises his hands. THIRD SOLDIER Don't shoot! I'm unarmed! Don't shoot! Fifth shot hits the soldier in the chest. The forest is quiet again. Three corpses lie on the snow. We see a rifle barrel wrapped in white cloth under a snow-covered fir tree branch. Suddenly, the whole pile of snow moves. SIMO HÄYHÄ rises slowly, snow falling off from his white coat. FREEZE FRAME on Häyhä's gray mask. CUT TO TITLE: "WHITE DEATH"

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BEGIN OPENING TITLES The title sequence is an animated schematic diagram of M/28 rifle. OPENING CREDITS OVER THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE EXT. VYBORG SHOOTING RANGE - DAY Teenage contestants are standing in a row and shooting targets that emerge behind a barrier far away - ten moving target plates for every contestant. Two judges of the competition sit behind a desk watching the shooting, but the third judges chair is empty. Behind the shooting range there's a summer festival area - families eating and drinking in a big tent, hot dog stands, musician plays an accordion on a stage. END OPENING TITLES We see a colorful sign on the entrance: VYBORG SHOOTING RANGE. A smaller paper poster is attached to the sign: YOUNG SHARPSHOOTERS CHAMPIONSHIP 1921. On the festival area, THREE TALL TEENAGE BOYS are circling a fourth, shorter boy: Simo Häyhä, 16 years old. All the boys have numbers on their chest and each is holding a rifle. FIRST TALL BOY The rifle is bigger than the boy! SECOND TALL BOY Can you even lift that? Häyhä laughs uneasily, holding his rifle next to his feet. His contestant number is 27, but it's on his chest upside down. SIMO Well, it's a bit heavy after all. THIRD TALL BOY First time in the competition, eh? SIMO Yeah.

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THIRD TALL BOY You notice anything strange in your number? SIMO (looks his number upside down) I think it's 27. The boys laugh. Suddenly we hear an announcement on the loudspeakers: ANNOUNCER Competitors 21-30, get to your shooting positions! Competitors 21-30, get to your shooting positions! The three tall boys walk to their numbered shooting positions, Simo raises his rifle and walks briskly to his own position. MEAN BOY next to Simo sneers at him. Two of the judges behind the desk are waiting for the third judge. The third judge, CARL VON HAARTMAN, is in white cavalry uniform and flirting with a young cook lady at buffet table. FIRST JUDGE Captain Haartman! We are about to start! HAARTMAN (kisses lady's hand) My deepest apologies, duty calls. Smiling Haartman takes his place at the judges table. FIRST JUDGE We will now commence with the third shooting of the first round! The boys stand in line, load their rifles and wait. The second judge gives a signal. Moving targets pop up behind a barrier. The boys shoot five targets, load as fast as they can, and the next five targets pop up. After fifteen shots, the boys repeat the same on their knees and lying down.

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Carl von Haartman leans back on his chair while monitoring the competitors. His eyes stop on Häyhä, who is shooting quickly and efficiently. HAARTMAN The short kid has good eyes. Where's he from? FIRST JUDGE Number 27, Simo Häyhä from Rautjärvi. 16 years old. HAARTMAN Oh, Rautjärvi's boys. FIRST JUDGE Yeah, I noticed too. Poor kid has his number upside down. HAARTMAN (surprised) Oh right, his number is upside down. The second judge writes the scores on a blackboard. The highest score is SIMO HÄYHÄ 15 - 15 - 15. The second highest score is 12 - 13 - 13. Before the last round, the mean boy standing next to Simo palms a shell in his hand. When the shooting starts, the boy flicks the shell to Simos cheek... and Simo misses his first shot. Simo looks to his left, and the boy keeps shooting like nothing happened. Simo looks to judges for help, but Haartman watches the targets, yawning. Simo loads and shoots down the first three targets. Now he has two targets, but only one cartridge. He waits for the targets to start to go down behind the barrier. He shoots... two targets with one bullet. HAARTMAN What on earth...? Other contestants stare at Simo, who scratches his head in unease. The second judge writes down a perfect score for Häyhä.

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EXT. VYBORG SHOOTING RANGE - EVENING Spectators applaud as the award ceremony starts. Simo Häyhä is standing in a line as the winner and Haartman puts a medal around his neck. HAARTMAN Tell me, how did you manage to shoot two targets at once? SIMO Ricochet, sir. HAARTMAN Ricochet, eh... Band starts to play on the stage. The three tall boys are standing on the side watching the ceremony. FIRST TALL BOY Listen, we should take shorty in our team. EXT. VYBORG SHOOTING RANGE - EVENING Simo sits cross-legged at the shooting range, a medal around his neck and a rifle on his lap, watching summer sun over the forest. A few young men are practicing shooting further away. Two of the three tall boys approach Simo. FIRST TALL BOY Waiting your parents? SIMO Yeah. SECOND TALL BOY How about we give little Simo here a real challenge? SIMO A challenge? The first tall boy raises his hand. The third tall boy is at the target area, and raises all the targets 150 meters away.

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FIRST TALL BOY This is the challenge. In one minute, shoot down as many targets as you can. Professional sharpshooters can get 20-30 hits in a minute from 200 meters. If you get fifteen from 150 meters, we'll accept you to our shooting team... What do you say? Want to know how good you really are? SIMO Well, I'll try my best. Simo takes a five-cartridge comb and starts to load it in, but the first tall boy stops him. FIRST TALL BOY No, no. You can load only one cartridge at the time. SIMO Oh, okay. Simo places the cartridges between his fingers like a Mongolian archer holding arrows. FIRST TALL BOY No, no, no, like this! The first tall boy arranges the cartridges on the plank in front of Simo in a neat row. The second boy looks at his pocket watch. INSERT:

POCKET WATCH, SECOND HAND MOVES TO TWELVE SECOND TALL BOY Start!

Simo starts shooting, loads and shoots one cartridge at the time. OLD MAN walks by and stops behind the boys to watch. The first tall boy follows the targets with binoculars, as they go down one by one. Second boy looks at his watch. SECOND TALL BOY And... Stop! Simo stops shooting, takes a deep breath and lowers the rifle on his lap.

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SECOND TALL BOY How many did he got? FIRST TALL BOY Look for yourself. The first boy gives the binoculars to the second boy. The third tall boy runs to his buddies. The old man steps forward and takes the binoculars from the boys hands. OLD MAN Twenty eight shots and all in targets! Whose boy are you? The first tall boy grabs Simo's arm and raises it. FIRST TALL BOY He's the Magic Shooter of the Vyborg shooting team! The boys grab Simo's feet, raise him in the air and carry him away on their shoulders. EXT. HÄYHÄ FAMILY FARM – DAY Open fields, birds walking on the snow blanket. SUPER:

RAUTJÄRVI, FINLAND. FALL 1939.

A fox appears on the tree line. A rifle shot comes from nowhere and the fox dies, birds blast off to flight from the field. Two shots, and two birds fall down. Then third and fourth shot, and a third bird falls down. After the fourth shot, a muted yell echoing. KATRIINA (O.S.) Simo! Fifth shot hits a tree on the edge of the forest... ...and we fly over the open fields, following the bullets trajectory, climbing on a low hill and to the roof of a farmhouse, where Simo Häyhä (32 years old) is sitting cross-legged at the edge of the roof with a fuming rifle. Behind him on the roof we see tools and repair supplies. Häyhä loads a new five cartridge comb to his rifle.

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8. KATRIINA (O.S.)

Simo! Häyhä lowers his rifle and looks down to the ground. His mother KATRIINA is standing on the yard. KATRIINA Simo! Are you hunting foxes or fixing the roof? SIMO A bit of both. KATRIINA Come down, the dinner is ready! Simo slides to the edge of the roof, grabs on to icecovered ladders and slides down to the ground. Simo's brother's wife HILDA is carrying hay to the stable while her TWO KIDS are playing with wooden rifles on the yard. Hilda walks past the ladder. HILDA Foxes again? SIMO There's been a lot of them this year. HILDA Matti brought the mail in, there was a letter for you. INT. FARM HOUSE LIVING ROOM - DAY Grandfather clock is ticking in the corner. Simo's brother MATTI strolls around the room with a walking stick while Simo sits on the table and reads a letter from the army. Simos father JUHO is smoking a pipe on a rocking chair. Katriina is stirring a kettle on his lap. MATTI So, the call came. SIMO It's just additional refresher training.

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JUHO They are fortifying the line, increasing readiness. It's seriously starting to look that the war is coming. MATTI They're just preparing for the worst. JUHO Even so, at least you don't need to wage war against your own people like your brother. MATTI Shut up, old man. KATRIINA Matti, take your shoes of inside. Matti sits on a chair and beats snow of his shoes with his walking stick. There's a trail of snow and mud on the carpet. JUHO Looks like it's time for your son Simo to go. Katriina nods. INT. FARM HOUSE BACK ROOM - DAY Häyhä puts on a White Guard uniform, then takes a backpack and a shoulder bag. He checks his empty rifle and fires a test shot to the window - click. He takes all the cartridges from the wall shelf, puts them into his shoulder bag, and takes a step back. Now we see the whole wall-mounted cabinet and brackets - filled with dozens of trophies Häyhä has won from shooting competitions, surrounded by antlers with medals hanging from them. Häyhä wraps his rifle on a blanket. INT. FARM HOUSE LIVING ROOM - DAY Katriina straightens Häyhä's collars and ties a big, gray scarf on his neck. KATRIINA Keep yourself warm.

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Häyhä nods and walks to the door, Matti and Hilda are standing next to the wall. Hilda hands over a Kalakukko wrapped in paper. HILDA Something for the trip. Matti puts his hand on Simo's shoulder. MATTI Don't give this land to the Russkies. Simo nods. Juho sits on the rocking chair with his two grandkids. JUHO Come back alive. SIMO I'll do my best. The kids on Juho's lap pretend to shoot Simo with their wooden rifles. Simo smiles and pretends to shoot back with his finger. EXT. HÄYHÄ FAMILY FARM HOUSE - DAY Simo cycles a snowy road away from the farm, leaving a muddy track on the white snow. Matti watches from the window. INT. FINNISH ARMY HEADQUARTERS - DAY A spacious office in an old, white school building. SUPER:

FINNISH ARMY HEADQUARTERS, MIKKELI OCTOBER 1939

Marshal C.G.E. MANNERHEIM and president KYÖSTI KALLIO are standing around a table, looking at maps of Karelian Isthmus. On the wall behind Kallio is a painting of him as a president, eyes squinting in the same manner. KALLIO The Soviet Union maintains that we started shooting at Mainila.

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MANNERHEIM We don't have artillery there anymore. The Russians have staged the attack. MANNERHEIM (CONT'D) They're trying to provoke, but Finland is not going to answer to provocation. If they want a war, they have to start it. KALLIO Stalin wants the Gulf of Finland and Hanko peninsula. We can't remain neutral if the Red Army has a base in Hanko. MANNERHEIM The situation in Europe is difficult. If Hitler and Stalin form an alliance, we're stuck between two superpowers. The phone rings. Kallio answers, listens and shortly hangs up without saying anything. Mannerheim leans to the table. KALLIO It's over. The delegation returned from Moscow, Stalin has withdrawn the non-aggression pact and severed all diplomatic relations. MANNERHEIM Predictable. The next one is a declaration of war. KALLIO You were right in your warnings, Gustav. I'm afraid I have to leaves this matter to your hands until we can open the peace negotions again. MANNERHEIM A wise decision, Mr. president. INT. MANNERHEIM'S SALOON CAR - NIGHT Mannerheim's personal saloon carriage A 90, travelling from Mikkeli to Helsinki, attached to armored train.

"White Death" Mannerheim spreads a war map on the table. President Kallio, general AKSEL AIRO, general HÄGGLUND and general RUDOLF WALDEN are standing around the table. MANNERHEIM Stalin's Seventh Army is in position on the Karelian Isthmus and the Eight Army on the north side of Lake Ladoga. Nine divisions and three tank brigades. On the north, they probably try to cut Finland in half and march to Oulu, but they have to stay on the roads. Our main force will move to the Isthmus. The Kollaa area in north Karelia is the most vulnerable point. KALLIO Gustav, how did you complete this plan so quickly? MANNERHEIM I know the Russian mentality. I started the preparations well before the peace talks. AIRO Marshal, what is this inland line here? MANNERHEIM We don't even try to defend the main line. I'll draw a new line deeper, along the waterways. At Isthmus, from Suvanto to Death Lake, and on the north Ladoga, the Kollaa river. Mannerheim traces the lines he has drawn on the map with his riding crop. KALLIO We're going to give them a piece of Karelia before the war even starts?

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"White Death" MANNERHEIM Sometimes you have to sacrifice the queen to win the game later, Mr. president. They will think that we are retreating, but in reality, we don't leave them a place to retreat to. We'll burn everything we leave behind. HÄGGLUND It's a risky plan, especially in the fractured Kollaa area. MANNERHEIM Yes, it's a harsh plan, but we have to take our chances. We're badly outnumbered in men and materiel. At Kollaa river it's definitely a risky bet, but luckily we have the right men for the practical implementation. Mannerheim spreads out a bundle of papers on the table, with photographs. MANNERHEIM Cavalry captain Carl von Haartman. His experience in the Spanish Civil War is invaluable. KALLIO Haartman? I thought he moved back to Spain after he got his inheritance. MANNERHEIM He returned last year and is ready to fight. I'll put him in charge at Kollaa under colonel Wilhelm Teittinen. AIRO Teittinen is a good man. MANNERHEIM As a division commander, I want Colonel Svensson. And for the Kollaa front line... Captain Aarne Juutilainen. KALLIO Juutilainen? Where have I heard that name before?

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"White Death" AIRO He served in the French Foreign Legion. The most ruthless man on this side of the river. You probably know him by his nickname - Terror of Morocco. WALDEN That maniac? I thought he was kicked out of the army for being too violent. MANNERHEIM We need cold-blooded men to deal with the overwhelming manpower of the Red Army. Captain Juutilainen is the right man for this job. WALDEN I can understand Teittinen, Svensson and even that movie playboy Haartman, but Terror of Morocco is just crazy. I don't think he even wants to MANNERHEIM His brother Ilmari is one of our Fokker pilots. Captain Juutilainen has already volunteered and traveled to Kollaa on his own. Mannerheim points to the Kollaa area on the map with his riding crop. We approach a small dot on the map, the village of Sortavala... ...In aerial view, flying through clouds, we see the relative positions of the Army of the Isthmus and other corps north of Lake Ladoga, and the snowy village of Sortavala... EXT. HOTEL SORTAVALA COURTYARD - DAY A three-storied hotel on the hill. Snow-covered army vehicles driving through the hotel yard and Finnish soldiers marching on snow suits. SUPER:

HOTEL SORTAVALA FINNISH IV CORPS HEADQUARTERS

14.

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A long queue of Finnish soldiers waiting on the side door of the hotel. Those closest to the door are peaking inside, where there's a fist fight going on. An armored car stops near the side door and Carl von Haartman steps out in a clean, white cavalry uniform. He walks to the door past the line, but suddenly two men, GHOUL and SKINNY, burst out of the door and to the porch, wrestling and bleeding. Ghoul is tall and muscular, Skinny is tall and thin. Other soldiers laugh and move away from the wrestlers. HAARTMAN Gentlemen, what is the meaning of this ruckus? Haartman hits Ghoul with his whip and kicks Skinny man down the stairs to snow. GHOUL Damn aristocrat! Haartman presses his boot on Ghouls crotch. HAARTMAN What was that? I thought I heard some Bolshevik propaganda. GHOUL I'm sorry, captain! Haartman lifts his boot. HAARTMAN Oh, must have been just my imagination then. Back to the end of the line, both of you. INT. HOTEL SORTAVALA LOUNGE - DAY Behind a hotel counter, a young COUNTER MAN is handing over equipment and snow suits to impatient soldiers standing on line. Soldiers are pushing each other and talking loudly, but then Haartman comes in and everything calms down. HAARTMAN What's the problem here? COUNTER MAN Sir, there's not enough of everything to everyone.

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HAARTMAN You have a pistol on your belt, soldier. Make it clear that everyone must behave nicely. COUNTER MAN I can't just start shooting... HAARTMAN Everything goes in a war. WAR-VILLE (O.S.) It's not war yet, Haartman. Haartman turns around. Regiment commander WAR-VILLE is standing on the door. HAARTMAN It's gonna be soon, commander Teittinen. Long time no see. WAR-VILLE We are still on additional refresher training. Let the boys take care of their own business and grab a cup of coffee. INT. HOTEL SORTAVALA RESTAURANT - DAY Haartman and War-Ville drink coffee while looking down to a road where soldiers are marching and horses are pulling cannons. WAR-VILLE There's shortage of everything: men, horses, ammo, clothing... HAARTMAN War can't be won by saving bullets. WAR-VILLE You sound like captain Juutilainen. HAARTMAN I heard about that. Terror of Morocco as the 6th company commander? I thought they were joking.

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WAR-VILLE Orders came down from Marshal Mannerheim himself, can't argue with that. HAARTMAN Speak of the devil... Haartman looks outside. Captain Juutilainen is riding on a snow-suited horse along the road, waving his revolver like a cowboy, shouting to marching soldiers. War-Ville facepalms. INT. HOTEL SORTAVALA LOUNGE - DAY Haartman walks by a line of soldiers, but suddenly stops and walks back. Simo Häyhä is standing in the line and he's just about to get his snow camouflage suit over the counter. HAARTMAN Häyhä? HÄYHÄ Yes, sir. Corporal Simo Häyhä, sir. HAARTMAN Yes, I remember you. The ricochet kid who won all the sharpshooter competitions in Vyborg. HÄYHÄ Well, a few... HAARTMAN I see you still got the same rifle. HÄYHÄ Yes, sir. I was assigned as a sniper for the second company. Haartman pulls Simo out of the line and talks to him quietly. HAARTMAN You know, would you like to join captain Juutilainen's sixth company at Kollaa instead? HÄYHÄ Sixth company?

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HAARTMAN Captain Juutilainen has a habit of collecting all the worst troublemakers, but they're not exactly the right men to be snipers. I think they need at least one marksman with steady hands there. You're up to it? SIMO It's fine with me, sir. Haartman taps Simo's shoulder and turns around. Ghoul stands next in the line, his left eye bruised. HAARTMAN And you, big guy. You're going to 6th company too. GHOUL Huh? Haartman walks out. Häyhä realizes that the line has moved on behind him. All the shelves behind counter man are now empty, and the last snow suits are extra large. COUNTER MAN There's only large sizes left. Take it or leave it. HÄYHÄ I take it. Thank you. Häyhä lifts the snow suit and spreads it out. It's as big as superhero's cape. INT. TRAIN TO KOLLAA - NIGHT Train carriage is full of soldiers on their way to the front line. Most of the soldiers are sleeping, some are chatting at the back while playing cards, VIRTANEN is drinking vodka. Officer enters and walks through the carriage. OFFICER Virtanen, put the bottle out of sight. We're in Loimola soon. Virtanen hides the bottle under his coat.

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Simo Häyhä sits on the back with three other soldiers and looks out of the window to a dark forest. SOLDIER ONE What if the war really starts? The Red Army is ten times bigger. Four million Finns against a nation of hundred and eighty million! SOLDIER TWO Nah, the Red Army is just putting up a show, trying to scare us. They have bigger worries with Hitler and Germans. SOLDIER THREE Don't you read the papers? Stalin and Hitler have made a nonaggression pact. SOLDIER ONE Yeah, and Sweden wants to keep Finland as a barricade, they're not going to help us. We're in deep shit. SOLDIER TWO (pokes a sleeping soldier) Did you hear? You're in deep shit. Sleeping soldier, MAKE UOSIKKINEN, wakes up. UOSIKKINEN What, what? Are we there yet? SOLDIER THREE Well, it's an honor to have handsome enemies, that's what my old man used to say. Häyhä listens the conversation and takes off the gray scarf his mother gave him. He cuts an eye hole in the scarf with a knife and then tries the scarf on his face like a mask, looking at his reflection on the window. EXT. KOLLAA RIVER - DAY Snowy forest and a wooden bridge over frozen Kollaa river.

"White Death" SUPER:

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KOLLAA RIVER

Finnish soldiers are dragging razor wire, digging holes, moving big rocks as barriers and sawing telephone poles. Evacuated women, children and elderly are marching on the side of the road while soldiers are marching and riding horses on the opposite direction. All the army horses have white capes on their back. Cannons from World War I are being pulled behind horse carriages. UOSIKKINEN Women are going to do men's jobs so that men can fight. MARCHING SOLDIER ONE You think those antiquated cannons are gonna be of any use? UOSIKKINEN I'll take any weapon I can get. Captain Juutilainen rides next to the soldiers and notices one of the soldiers, PACIFIST, standing on the side of the road with his hands on his pockets. JUUTILAINEN Whoa, Cat! What's going on here, soldier? Where's your rifle? PACIFIST I'm a pacifist, I don't carry a gun. I was forced here, but I'm not going to fight. JUUTILAINEN You're gonna be on guard duty like everyone else, with or without a weapon. Juutilainen takes a shovel and throws it on front of Pacifist. JUUTILAINEN Shovel is a mans sword. Go dig a hole, you can choose if it's a foxhole or a grave. Pacifist raises the shovel. Some marching soldiers slow down to see what's going on.

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JUUTILAINEN Keep moving, sinners! In Morocco we marched even when bone was shining from the foot! Juutilainen rides along and soldiers keep on marching. UOSIKKINEN Terror of Morocco alright. MARCHING SOLDIER ONE Waste snippets like that deserter are gonna be the first to die when the war starts. MARCHING SOLDIER TWO (laughs and points at Häyhä) And there's a another little scrap of cannon fodder. Häyhä is cutting down a telephone pole with a small ax, dressed in an overly large snow suit, with a gray scarf masking his face. Häyhä glances at the laughing soldiers and greets them. Suddenly, there's a sound of an airplane. The marching stops and soldiers look at the sky. MARCHING SOLDIER ONE It's a Russian plane! JUUTILAINEN Spread out, or the bombs are going to take the entire band at once! Soldiers spread out to the woods, but Häyhä climbs on the telephone pole, raises his rifle and aims for the treetops. Captain Juutilainen notices Häyhä at the pole and grins. The Russian plane flies over, heading to west. Juutilainen follows the plane with binoculars and sees that there's RRAB-3 bombs hanging under the plane. JUUTILAINEN Molotov's bread baskets. It's probably heading to Sortavala. False alarm, men! Back into some kind of line, everyone! Simo puts his rifle away and climbs down from the pole.

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JUUTILAINEN Move your slippers, we'll leave those hornets for the antiaircraft cannons! COURIER runs towards Juutilainen. COURIER Captain, message from headquarters! Russians have attacked without a declaration of war and dropped bombs to civilian targets in Viipuri and Helsinki! JUUTILAINEN Civilian targets, eh? Trying to incite fear and chaos? Well, if they want to play this game like that... Juutilainen grins, looking at masked Häyhä standing next to a telephone pole. EXT. SUVIJÄRVI VILLAGE - DAY Suvijärvi village is on fire, black smoke rises to the sky, Russian artillery is shooting at the edges of the village. Red Army marches along a road past the burning houses and barns. Commander of the Russian 56th Division, DMITRI VOROSILOV, is standing on a tank dressed in warm fur coat, and looks at the village with binoculars. His officers are standing in the snow. VOROSILOV Finns always retreat after burning all the buildings. This is an easy victory. Great Architect Stalin was right, we'll march to Helsinki in two weeks and return home victorious. OFFICER We have to be careful not to march all the way to Sweden by accident! Officers laugh.

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EXT. OUTSIDE SUVIJÄRVI VILLAGE - DAY On the outskirts of the burning village, Captain Juutilainen is guiding his men on how to make a Molotov cocktail out of empty bottle of vodka. JUUTILAINEN Prime minister Molotov claims they are just dropping food to starving citizens of Helsinki. And with food, of course, you need something to drink. Juutilainen ignites the petrol bomb. JUUTILAINEN I'll present to you: Molotov cocktail, a drink to go with the food. Just run close to a tank, throws this into the engine and let it burn. Juutilainen throws the bottle through a window into a farm house behind him to demonstrate. JUUTILAINEN Just make sure you don't burn yourself. VUORENSOLA (O.S) Captain Juutilainen! Juutilainen walks to a snow bank, where two soldiers are lifting a Maxim machine gun to its place. Cadet Vuorensola arrives on a horse, jumps down and runs to Juutilainen. VUORENSOLA Captain Juutilainen, cadet Vuorensola! JUUTILAINEN What is the burden on your heart, cadet? VUORENSOLA An urgent message from commander Teittinen. Your orders were to withdraw immediately at the Kollaa river.

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JUUTILAINEN Oh, that's what's eating WarVille? Tell him that we're coming as soon as we have time. Juutilainen turns and helps soldiers with machine gun. Cadet Vuorensola takes a pistol and points it at Juutilainen. VUORENSOLA I'm afraid commander Teittinen asked me to make sure you follow his orders. JUUTILAINEN I like your style, cadet! know, the boys here a bit right now, and if you use syringe, they might start too.

But you edgy that shooting

Juutilainen points to the tree line where a row of soldiers is waiting for the Russians. One of the soldiers behind the bank is Häyhä, rolling a white cloth on his rifle barrel. EXT. SUVIJÄRVI MAIN ROAD - EVENING Russian troops are parading through the destroyed village in three rows. Behind a snow bank, Juutilainen takes a sip from his hip flask. JUUTILAINEN Russians are helpless in the wild, thats why they use the roads. Cadet Vuorensola lies on the snow holding his pistol. Juutilainen takes a look over the bank and nods approvingly. JUUTILAINEN Oh well, let's get started. Juutilainen throws a white canvas away, revealing a machine gun. He opens fire to the Russian parade. The Finnish soldiers start shooting from their hidden positions.

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More Finns emerge from under the snow, throwing grenades and Molotovs to Russian vehicles. Russians run towards smoldering ruins of buildings looking for cover, but they stumble straight to Finnish mines. Juutilainen changes the machine gun magazine and gives the handle bars to cadet Vuorensola. JUUTILAINEN Continue from here, cadet. VUORENSOLA What, where are you going? Juutilainen runs through smoke and fire to a different position while shooting with a rifle. Cadet Vuorensola sees a bunch of Russians rushing towards him and starts shooting. Juutilainen continues to run behind a row of Finnish riflemen. JUUTILAINEN Shoot their heads, leave their skins intact! Juutilainen runs behind Häyhä, then stops and returns to watch Häyhä's shooting. Häyhä works like a machine - one shot, one Russian falls. The same repeats one shot after another. Juutilainen notices that some Russians are trying to get their machine gun ready on the side and starts to shoot them, but Häyhä gets them first. On the other side, Juutilainen spots a commander, but Häyhä shoots the commander in the head. Juutilainen smiles and slaps Häyhä in the back. JUUTILAINEN Hell of a good job, corporal! Take some more nails. Juutilainen leaves all his rifle cartridges to Häyhä and runs to different position while shooting with his revolver.

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Simo glances at the cartridges left by Juutilainen and keeps shooting. CUT TO: The remains of the Russian troops are running on the ice road back towards east. JUUTILAINEN All right, stop shooting! Save something for the next battle! Finns stand up, staring at the corpses and destroyed vehicles. JUUTILAINEN Snap out of it boys! Go empty their pockets, they might have something of value on them! CUT TO: Finns are collecting the Russian weapons to sleds and piling frozen bodies. Juutilainen walks over the corpses and sticks them with his bayonet to see if someone is still alive. FINNISH SOLDIER These don't look like Russians at all. JUUTILAINEN Stalin drags young men from Volga's turns. Half of them don't know where they are and who they're fighting against, even less why. Damn shame. Collect everything that works, men! One Finnish soldier sits on the snow and stares the corpses wide-eyed. SHOCKED SOLDIER We're all dead, we're all dead now... JUUTILAINEN Soldier, can you clench your fist? SHOCKED SOLDIER Yes...

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JUUTILAINEN If you can clench your fist, you're not dead yet! Soldier Virtanen takes boots off of a corpse to check their size. VIRTANEN Feels kind of stupid to shoot them when they march straight on like targets. SOLDIER ONE Yeah, they didn't even send a scout. JUUTILAINEN I like Russians, they fight standing up! Juutilainen notices that the Russian commander is lying on the snow, shot in the head by Häyhä. JUUTILAINEN Oh, big guy here has a nice coat. Juutilainen takes the commanders fur coat and rips the red stars off. Uosikkinen approaches Juutilainen with other soldiers. UOSIKKINEN Captain, we have secured the area. JUUTILAINEN That's good. Sow some more mines in the ruins when the fire dies. Cadet Vuorensola walks on the snow bank. JUUTILAINEN Cadet! Tell War-Ville that we're ready to retreat now! EXT. KOLLAA HILL - DAY Finnish soldiers are running in trenches, grenades exploding, smoke and fire everywhere. Russian tanks are coming along the road, soldiers are charging over snowy expanse.

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Häyhä is standing in a trench and shooting Russians one by one. A small team of Russians flank Finns using smoke as their cover. Häyhä runs over and shoots the Russian team, but the last one is just wounded and screams in pain while trying to crawl to cover. Häyhä loads his rifle. WOUNDED SOLDIER Don't shoot! Häyhä shoots the soldier in the head. CUT TO: Juutilainen talks to a field phone, his face black from soot. Signalman is holding the phone while medic is bandaging Juutilainen's hand. JUUTILAINEN They're bombarding our positions and trying to flank us at the same time. Right, that kind of little buzz! EXT. RED HOUSE - DAY We see a red cabin on a hill, surrounded by razor wire. SUPER:

RED HOUSE, REGIMENT COMMANDER'S HQ

War-Ville is sitting behind a desk, looking at the map of Kollaa area, talking on the phone. WAR-VILLE If they can't get through the road, they'll take a tour over the lake and swamps. I'll ask for more troops. INTERCUT BETWEEN WAR-VILLE AND JUUTILAINEN: JUUTILAINEN Yeah, I'll send some boys back in exchange, they start to look a bit tired already. WAR-VILLE I heard you are wounded too. Is this true?

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JUUTILAINEN Just a flesh wound. WAR-VILLE Whatever, you're coming to show it. A car will come to pick you up. Over. Juutilainen starts to talk back, but then he spots Häyhä running by, pulls signalman and medic with him and shouts after Häyhä. JUUTILAINEN Corporal Häyhä! Häyhä stops and runs back. JUUTILAINEN There's a Russian sniper on the north side of Lake Kollaa, killed three of our officers already. Go shoot that guy away. HÄYHÄ I'll do my best. Häyhä runs. Signalman pushes the phone back to Juutilainen's ear, but Juutilainen pushes it away. JUUTILAINEN You tell him the rest. Juutilainen takes his pistol and jumps out the trench, running through smoke towards enemy. Signalman and medic are left standing on the trench with bloody bandages and War-Ville on the phone. EXT. LAKE KOLLAA - DAY Smoking tanks and corpses on a frozen lake. SUPER:

LAKE KOLLAA

Russian sniper is lying behind a fallen tree on the east side of the lake. He yawns and changes his position a bit.

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We fly over the frozen lake on the west side of the lake... and in a trench on the west side is Häyhä, taking aim. He sees a flash of sunlight reflecting from the Russian sniper's lens, turns his rifle and shoots, loads and shoots again. We fly back to the east side of the lake... where Häyhä's bullets break the Russian snipers scope and hit his cheek. On the west side, Häyhä waits patiently. A soldier ten metres away from Häyhä lifts his spotter periscope. SOLDIER Did you get him? HÄYHÄ I think so. Soldier observes the tree line and spots a rifle barrel rising from behind a tree stump. SOLDIER Yeah, I think you got him. How far is that, four hundred meters? HÄYHÄ Four-fifty. INT. KREML, RUSSIA - NIGHT The Red Square and the wall of Kreml, covered in snow. SUPER:

KREML, MOSCOW

Three Russian commanders are sitting around a long conference table. SUPER:

PRIME MINISTER VYACHESLAV MOLOTOV

SUPER:

GENERAL KIRILL KHABAROV

SUPER:

GENERAL SEMYON TIMOSHENKO NICKNAME: "GREAT BUTCHER"

And on the head of the table sits... SUPER:

JOSEF STALIN

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STALIN Prime minister Molotov, why has our advance to Finland stopped? MOLOTOV The resistance is a bit stronger than expected, but we will definitely break it in a few days. STALIN You assured me that Finland would be conquered in twelve days with minimal casualties. MOLOTOV I'm sure comrade Khabarov agrees with me. General Timoshenko chuckles by himself while glancing at Khabarov and Molotov. Khabarov leans forward. KHABAROV I don't see any reason to worry. The Finnish defenses will collapse in a week. Stalin stares solemnly at Molotov. STALIN Molotov, I'm pleased with how you took care of the Ribbentrop pact. You will take care of Finland for me. Comrades! Let us raise a toast again to our patriarch, life and sun, Josef Vissarionovich Stalin! EXT. WHITE FOREST - DAY Steep ridges on the western side of Kollaa river. Russian patrol is climbing in deep snow towards the ridges. Suddenly, a rifle shot kills the first soldier. The others run for cover behind trees and rocks, and observe the ridges using mirrors. OFFICER Can anyone see him? On the north side, one of the Russians crawls on the snow and spots something that looks like a Finnish soldier on top of the ridge, a white figure.

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SOLDIER I can see you... He shoots the figure and hits, the figure falls over. SOLDIER Got you, damn creeper! The soldier waves his hand to other soldiers, but suddenly he gets a bullet to his armpit and falls. CUT TO: On the top of the ridge, a wooden decoy with a wooden rifle - "Cold Charlie" - is lying on the snow. CUT TO: Second Russian soldier crawls in the snow behind a tall snow bank, when he's suddenly startled by a big straw doll hanging from a tree branch. He shoots, but then he realizes that it's just a doll.. and Häyhä's shot comes through the snow bank in steep angle, hitting the soldiers chest. More shots, more dead soldiers. Shots are echoing in the forest, Russians are panicking and shooting everywhere. SOLDIER Where is he? Where is he shooting from?! OFFICER Enough! Shooting stops, forest is quiet. One young soldier is shaking behind a tree, another soldier next to him. Häyhä shoots once and the other soldier behind the tree falls. The shot echoes in the forest. OFFICER Where is he shooting from?! Young soldier throws his rifle away and starts running and rolling down the hill. YOUNG SOLDIER White Death! White Death! OFFICER Come back, you coward!

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The officer turns and tries to shoot the young soldier in the back, but misses. Häyhä shoots the officer in the lower back. Officer drops down and falls on his back, paralyzed. Young soldier rolls all the way down to the frozen riverbed and keeps on running over the ice. Russian officer is lying on his back and trying to move his legs, but the bullet has paralyzed him. He listens the shots and screams echoing... and then the forest is quiet. Branches of a tall, snow-covered tree behind the officer start to sway. Häyhä thumps down from the tree to the deep snow, rises up and walks to the paralyzed Russian. The Russian stares at Häyhä's mask and rifle barrel pointed to his forehead, but then Häyhä lowers his rifle, takes a sugar cube from his pocket and tucks it into the officers mouth. The officer stares at Häyhä in bewilderment, coughs up blood and dies. EXT. KOLLAA ROAD, RUSSIAN SIDE - DAY Russian commander GRIGORI SHTERN walks on the side of the road and his ADJUTANT follows him. On the road, there's a long line of tanks, cars and soldiers. SHTERN So we lost comrade Feodor at Lake Kollaa. He was our best marksman. What the hell happened there? Did anyone saw who shot him? ADJUTANT The soldiers talk about one man, a Finnish sniper in a white camouflage and gray mask. Could be the same sniper who has destroyed several patrols in the White forest area. Soldiers call him the White Death. SHTERN Fools, Finns must have a group of snipers in the forests using similar clothes. Suddenly, a young soldier runs along the road, screaming and pushing other soldiers in the line.

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YOUNG SOLDIER White Death! White Death is coming! SHTERN Who's shouting? Guarding officers let the young soldier run, but Shtern's adjutant stops him. The young soldier fells on his knees. YOUNG SOLDIER The White Death, the White Death! ADJUTANT Get a hold of yourself, soldier! YOUNG SOLDIER They're all dead! All dead! White Death killed them all at the river! SHTERN Where is your weapon, soldier? YOUNG SOLDIER White Death is on the other side of the river! Soldiers nearby start whispering restlessly. Shtern takes out his pistol. SHTERN Shut up! You are a traitor and a coward! Shtern shoots the young soldier in the head. SHTERN Are there other cowards here? Any more complaints about White Death? Those Finnish soldiers are just animals! They skin their prisoners and make leather boots out of them! Soldiers are quiet. Shtern puts his pistol away. SHTERN Move forward! Two young soldiers, cadet IVAN and cadet GENNADI, are whispering in the line.

"White Death" IVAN Can he shoot us just like that? The other officers don't say a thing? GENNADI Keep on marching and keep your mouth shut. Shtern is an NKVD man, Stalin's secret police can do whatever they want. The corpse of the young soldier is left at the road and tanks are driving over it. EXT. RED HOUSE - NIGHT Soldiers standing in guard in the freezing cold, breathing vapor. An armored car, covered in snow and ice, drives past the house. INT. RED HOUSE - NIGHT Juutilainen sits in War-Ville's office and drinks coffee. War-Ville is writing behind his desk, dark shadows underneath his eyes. Juutilainen lifts his coffee mug, and his right hand is covered in bloody bandages. WAR-VILLE That hand looks pretty bad. JUUTILAINEN Just a frostbite. War-Ville takes a sip of his own coffee mug. JUUTILAINEN You're not sleeping much, are you? WAR-VILLE I'll sleep after the war. Speaking of war, how's the sniper corporal Simo Häyhä doing in your company? I keep hearing rumors about his miraculous accuracy. JUUTILAINEN Yeah, about that. Simo soon has over two hundred confirmed kills in his account.

35.

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WAR-VILLE Quite a hard worker. If we had an army full of men like Häyhä, we would save a long penny in ammo. JUUTILAINEN How about we turn Simo into a sergeant? War-Ville thinks for a moment. WAR-VILLE I don't mind. Men seem to respect him, it's good for the morale. Häyhä doesn't have a spotter, am I right? JUUTILAINEN I let him go alone, other boys can't really keep up with him. WAR-VILLE Nevertheless, all kills should be confirmed properly. Choose someone. JUUTILAINEN One spotter should be enough? Juutilainen lifts his coffee mug again and War-Ville notices that there's blood coming under Juutilainen's bandages. WAR-VILLE Dammit, captain! Go and show that hand to a medic! JUUTILAINEN What the hell? First you serve me coffee and now you threaten me with operating table? WAR-VILLE Go to a medic. That's an order. EXT. KOLLAA CAMP - MORNING Juutilainen steps out of an army car and walks towards his command tent, right hand in heavy bandages. Juutilainen's orderly BIRDY comes out of the tent.

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BIRDY Captain, what happened to your hand? Juutilainen raises his hand and we see that only his thumb and middle finger are intact. JUUTILAINEN Three damn fingers! Bastards wanted to amputate them all, but I told them to leave one so I can at least pull a trigger. Häyhä comes out of the command tent in full gear. JUUTILAINEN Simo! We just promoted you into a sergeant for the hell of it. HÄYHÄ Okay. Thank you, captain. Simo puts his mask on and starts to walk towards the forest. JUUTILAINEN One other thing! War-Ville ordered me to put a spotter on your tail, so that they get the correct kill count and so forth! We'll talk about that later! Juutilainen holds his middle finger up while shouting and Birdy scratches his face, embarrassed. JUUTILAINEN Is there a problem? BIRDY No, sir. EXT. KOLLAA NORTH SECTOR - DAY Russian spotter's periscope rises from a snow trench and looks around on the east side of Kollaa. On the west side, Finns are watching from a trench. SUPER:

KOLLAA, NORTH SECTOR FIFTH COMPANY STATION

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FINNISH SOLDIER Damn, that periscope rises again. It's gonna rain shit again. Finns run back and dive into dugouts when Russian artillery starts to fire. Grenades cut down trees, ground shakes. INT. FIFTH COMPANY DUGOUT - DAY In the dugout, soldiers are listening the bombardment outside. Horses are in the dugout with soldiers. SOLDIER ONE How the hell can we get rid of that targeting scope? They just keep hammering us at their leisure. SOLDIER TWO We'd need a damn good shooter to hit that scope. SOLDIER THREE We could bring the Magic Shooter here. SOLDIER FOUR Who? SOLDIER THREE Magic Shooter Simo Häyhä, that sniper from Terror's sixth company. You haven't heard about him? SOLDIER ONE He was promoted to sergeant recently, I heard. Two hundred confirmed kills or something. Fifth company commander LEMETTI stands behind the soldiers. LEMETTI Sergeant Häyhä, eh? SOLDIER THREE We could invite him for a coffee to congratulate about the promotion and...

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SOLDIER TWO And he could shoot that scope while he's here! Soldiers laugh at their clever ploy. Commander Lemetti scratches his head and calls a signalman. LEMETTI Korhonen, please take a call to captain Juutilainen in sixth company. EXT. KOLLAA CAMP - DAY A horse sleigh arrives in Juutilainen's camp. The DRIVER is a civilian. He walks around the camp until he finds Juutilainen's command tent. On the tent's door there's a wooden sign that says: CAPTAIN JUUTILAINEN'S TENT KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING WIPE YOUR FEET The driver wipes his boots, knocks the wooden sign and enters the tent. INT. COMMAND TENT - DAY Soldiers in the tent are shaving their beards and writing letters home, but everything stops when the driver enters. The driver takes his fur hat off. DRIVER Well, uh... I was sent here to pick up someone called, uh, Magic Shooter. SOLDIER Simo! There's some guy here asking you for a date! Häyhä is sitting next to his bed, cleaning his rifle. He raises his head wondering why everyone is staring.

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EXT. WHITE FOREST - DAY Horse sleigh runs along a trail in the forest. Häyhä sits under fur blankets with his rifle, like a Russian nobility, and watches the fleeting scenery. EXT. KOLLAA NORTH SECTOR - DAY Targeting periscope rises from a trench again. A Russian soldier is watching the Finnish side through the scope, and then he suddenly stops to check a snowy lump under spruce tree... Häyhä is lying behind the snowy lump and targeting the periscope. He shoots two times... ...and both lenses of the periscope shatter. RUSSIAN SOLDIER Oh shit! Soldier panics, the periscope topples down to the trench. EXT. FIFTH COMPANY DUGOUT - DAY Häyhä returns to the fifth company's dugout, soldiers run out of dugouts with horses, cheering and line up to shake hands with Häyhä. SOLDIER THREE We saw it! Two shots and that was it! SOLDIER TWO Three hoorays for Simuna! Hooray, hooray, hooray! LEMETTI Good job, sergeant. HÄYHÄ Thank you, commander. SOLDIER FOUR I'm going to write home that Simo Häyhä was here! Suddenly, shells start to rain down again all over the forest.

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SOLDIER ONE Now they're just shooting blindly all over! SOLDIER THREE I guess they're a bit annoyed when their expensive toy was scrapped! CUT TO: Photographer takes a picture of Häyhä and the fifth company soldiers. Häyhä is standing in the middle with a cup of coffee, smiling embarrassedly. EXT. KOLLAA CAMP - MORNING Two army trucks coming along the road, followed by horses with snow suits. In the first truck, driver is Make Uosikkinen, and next to him sits sniper ANTTI MALMI. On the passage into the camp stands a body of a frozen Russian soldier, arm pointing to the camp, with a sign on his chest that says: WELCOME MALMI What was that? UOSIKKINEN Captain Terror's morbid humor. MALMI Why is everyone calling him the Terror of Morocco? UOSIKKINEN He was in the French Foreign Legion, fighting Arabs in Morocco before coming here. Quite a monstrosity for a man. The trucks stop at the camp site. Soldiers jump out and start to unload the cargo. Malmi and Uosikkinen help to unload the cargo from the first truck. From the second truck, a bunch of hard-looking men jump down, none of them wearing any army uniforms. MALMI Who are those guys?

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UOSIKKINEN Volunteers from prison. The worst troublemakers are sent here because Terror knows how to deal with them Near the command tent, Malmi sees Juutilainen ja Häyhä talking - a big man in tight fur coat and a small man in a large snow suit. Juutilainen talks and laughs while spreading his arms, Häyhä smiles in a friendly manner. UOSIKKINEN Captain is telling his war stories again. MALMI So, is that other guy...? UOSIKKINEN Yep, that's sergeant Häyhä. It's a rare sight to see him in the camp at this time of the day. Usually he's at the forests and comes back only to sleep. Those two guys are like night and day: Juutilainen likes to ride to battle guns blazing, Häyhä keeps his head down and waits. MALMI Do you know him well? UOSIKKINEN We used to be in a same team at first, but I guess we were just slowing him down. He shot more than all of us put together. Two of the volunteers from prison are smoking a cigarette, leaning on the truck. PRISON VOLUNTEER ONE Terror of Morocco. Stupidest nickname I've ever heard. UOSIKKINEN You don't want to say that in front of Juutilainen, you know.

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PRISON VOLUNTEER TWO Yeah, the big guy looks like he might have something up his sleeve, but that midget looks like he couldn't kill fly. INT. COMMAND TENT - MORNING Juutilainen pours coffee to Häyhä's mug. Juutilainen has a leather glove on his right hand to cover the missing fingers. JUUTILAINEN I don't want to tie a ball to your leg, but those who are higher up the ladder want to use your reputation to boost the morale of the troops. HÄYHÄ Understandable. JUUTILAINEN I already got a good candidate for a spotter, top marksman of his class. Birdy comes in the tent and interrupts just when Juutilainen is about to drink his coffee. BIRDY Captain, the volunteers from the prison are here. JUUTILAINEN Oh, right. EXT. COMMAND TENT - MORNING Juutilainen steps out of the tent with Birdy. The volunteers from prison are standing like a gang, hands in pockets, smoking cigarettes, looking around defiantly. Juutilainen cracks the knuckles on his left hand. JUUTILAINEN So, we are from prison then? CUT TO:

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All the prison volunteers are lying on the ground, their noses bleeding. Juutilainen shakes and spins his right hand. JUUTILAINEN All right, let's make some kind of row here, we all know why we're here. The volunteers rise up grunting. JUUTILAINEN Let's start from you. What mischief took you to prison? VOLUNTEER ONE Fraud. VOLUNTEER TWO Burglary. VOLUNTEER THREE Murder! JUUTILAINEN Oh, we have a professional here? Well, you'll be the band leader then. Suddenly, an explosion from a nearby forest shakes the ground. The volunteers wince, Juutilainen and Birdy stay calm. JUUTILAINEN You'll get used to that. INT. COMMAND TENT - EVENING Malmi steps in to the tent. Juutilainen sits on a rocking chair next to small table. MALMI Sniper Antti Malmi reports to duty, sir. JUUTILAINEN Take it easy, soldier, we're not too fussy about the etiquette here. Birdy, bring some coffee for our new recruit! Birdy stands up and shakes Malmi's hand.

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BIRDY Captain's assistant Emil Varis. They call me Birdy, because there's lot of people here with the same last name. MALMI Nice to meet you, sir. Birdy moves to the wood stove to make some coffee. JUUTILAINEN Take a weight off your feet, Malmi. MALMI Thank you, sir. Malmi sits on the edge of a bed. JUUTILAINEN So, you're going to be the official monitor for our Simo? MALMI That's what I was told, sir. I'll do my best to not slow him down. JUUTILAINEN What does Simo think about that? Malmi realizes that Häyhä is sitting on the bed behind him, drinking coffee with a sugar cube in his mouth. HÄYHÄ Well, orders are orders. MALMI Antti Malmi, sir. I'm honored to work with you. HÄYHÄ Simo. I think we can work something out. MALMI I've read all the stories about you since you won the Vyborg sharpshooter competition five times in a row. HÄYHÄ Well, that was a long ago...

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JUUTILAINEN Simuna is so damn modest. Don't listen to him, just what others tell you about him. Juutilainen takes his coffee mug from the table with his right hand and spills the coffee accidentally on his shirt. JUUTILAINEN Merde! Birdy, your coffee doesn't stay in the mug! EXT. RUSSIAN CAMP SITE - NIGHT In the freezing night, Häyhä and Malmi are skiing in deep snow. Malmi carries a Mosin-Nagant rifle similar to Häyhäs and wears a white balaclava. Häyhä stops and gives a silent signal. They take their skis off and wait. Suddenly a red flare lights the sky. Russian patrol marches along a snow path further away. Häyhä puts a snowball in his mouth under his mask, Malmi does the same. They follow the Russian patrol. A black smoke rises behind a hill, Russians have made a bonfire in the forest. The soldiers are sitting around the bonfire, warming their hands, eating the meat of their dead horses. One soldier is playing a small accordion near the fire. Häyhä gives hand signals to Malmi and crawls to the left side. Malmi crawls to the right side. Häyhä shoots two shots. The first shot goes through the accordion and its player, a second shot kills soldier warming his hands near the fire. MALMI One, two... The Russian soldiers start to run away in panic. Some of them take cover and start shooting into the forest. RUSSIAN SOLDIER White Death! More shots from Häyhä, three soldiers fall down.

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MALMI Five... My turn. Malmi targets one of the running soldiers, but Häyhä loads already and shoots the runner first. MALMI Six...? The Russians try to spot Häyhä in the darkness, but when they see the flash, the bullets hit them. MALMI Nine, ten... One of the hungry Russians still sits in his place by the fire and tries to eat a piece of meat with his hands shaking. Häyhä shoots the soldiers hands and the meat flies to the fire. The soldier starts crying uncontrollably. Two Russians are dragging a third wounded soldier, Häyhä shoots them all. One Russian soldier has taken a roundabout route and attacks screaming towards Häyhä's position. Häyhä rolls in the snow and shoots him. Malmi notices one of the soldiers targeting Häyhä from a tree line further away. Malmi shoots, but hits a tree in front of the Russian. The Russian turns, but just then Häyhä shoots... the bullet travels through one soldiers ear, scraping a second soldiers wrist, through a third soldiers Adam's apple... and hits the Russian in the treeline in the face. Malmi sighs in relief. MALMI Fifteen... Malmi chooses the crying soldier by the fire and shoots him in the head. The soldier topples forwards into the fire and burns away while shooting continues. CUT TO: Malmi walks next to the fading bonfire, verifying the body count. MALMI Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen...

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Häyhä stands on the edge of the hill, snow suit flapping ominously in the moonlight. CUT TO: Häyhä and Malmi meet at the path where they left their skis. MALMI (exhausted) Twenty eight bodies, counted and confirmed! HÄYHÄ I shot twenty five times. MALMI Yeah, I got three. They put on their skis and leave the smoke of the bonfire behind them. CUT TO: Near the fading bonfire, a Russian soldier Ivan crawls from under a dead horse, shaking from cold and fear. He looks at the bodies of his friends around the fire, Gennadi among them. He puts on a second coat and starts to walk towards east, trying to warm his hands. EXT. KOLLAA CAMP - MORNING Juutilainen sits in a rocking chair in front of the command tent and drinks from a hip flask. He has a bleeding wound on the corner of his eye and his coat is dirty from mud. Häyhä and Malmi return and take of their skis. JUUTILAINEN Night shifters are back! How many? MALMI Twenty five and three confirmed. JUUTILAINEN Oh, that's good. This frost sure has put the Russian lines in chaos... Hey, we also got some new scoped rifles, you want one?

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HÄYHÄ No, thanks. I want to keep my head down. A Russian tank drives by, wobbling from side to side, knocking down small trees. Finnish soldiers sit on top of the tank laughing and one of the soldiers leans out of the window, shouting and waving his hand. JUUTILAINEN Boys wanted to test drive that new cart we got from the neighbors. Speaking of neighbors, Simo... Stay in the camp tomorrow, we'll get some newspaper visitors tomorrow. They want to interview you for the Helsinki Times. INT. COMMAND TENT - DAY Newspaper reporters TIMO RAUTAMAA ja MIKA WALTARI come into the command tent, followed by a PHOTOGRAPHER. They shake hands with Juutilainen. RAUTAMAA Timo Rautamaa, Helsinki Times. WALTARI Mika Waltari, as well. JUUTILAINEN Captain Aarne Juutilainen. Take a stroll into our field kitchen, Birdy here puts some coffee for the gentlemen. Rautamaa sits down to interview Juutilainen. Waltari and photogpraher walk around in the tent and greet the soldiers. RAUTAMAA So, how many Russians are there on captain's conscience? JUUTILAINEN Well, there have been a bunch all the way from Morocco, but Simuna is the number one sinner here.

"White Death" RAUTAMAA Yes, the famous Simo Häyhä. The soldiers have brought back a lot of stories about him. Is he around here now? JUUTILAINEN Well, he should be hiding around here somewhere, you just don't tend to see him. Rautamaa glances at soldiers who are standing behind him. The soldiers make some room, and we see Häyhä sitting in a corner wearing a wool shirt, drinking coffee. Waltari is sitting in front of Häyhä and interviewing him. RAUTAMAA He is sergeant Simo Häyhä? JUUTILAINEN Simo, make a confession to the reporter! How many confirmed kills? HÄYHÄ I don't know the exact numbers. JUUTILAINEN Malmi, how many? MALMI Two hundred and fifty nine so far. Waltari stops writing. RAUTAMAA Two hundred and fifty...? JUUTILAINEN That's about right. We counted this morning with Malmi. Juutilainen points to a list on the wall, where the confirmed kills have been listed every day. JUUTILAINEN When Simo started to get over ten kills in day, we started to count and then we got Malmi here as an official calculator.

50.

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WALTARI We have been in war just four weeks. How have you managed to get over two hundred and fifty kills? HÄYHÄ One at the time. Easy targets. JUUTILAINEN That's right, Russkies run like headless chickens, when Simo starts shooting. EXT. KOLLAA CAMP - DAY Press Häyhä back, throw

camera flashes, photographer takes a picture of and other soldiers. Häyhä tries to stay at the but other soldiers push him to the front and snowballs at him, Häyhä laughs embarrassedly.

Another flash, and we see a picture where Häyhä laughs and holds his rifle with both hands in front of him. EXT. RUSSIAN CAMP - NIGHT A bigger Russian camp in a valley next to a small building, vehicles parked on the side of the valley road. The shadows of Russian soldiers are moving in machine gun nests. Häyhä and Malmi are observing the camp from a high hill. Häyhä removes his right glove, leaving it at it's place at the trigger, takes a sugar cube from his pocket and puts it in his mouth. MALMI Your teeth will rot of if you keep eating sugar like that. HÄYHÄ Rather teeth than life. MALMI I don't think we should upset that hornet nest, they're gonna swarm out on us like bees. This was a fruitless trip. Häyhä sucks the sugarcube deep in thought.

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HÄYHÄ I'll take a shot. Get ready for an instant departure. Häyhä aims for a narrow slit window of the supply storage and shoots. The bullet hits a barrel next to a sleeping soldier. Suddenly, the whole place blows up in a fireball. Häyhä and Malmi look down, where Russian soldiers run out of the shelters with their clothes on fire and roll around in the snow. CUT TO: Häyhä and Malmi are skiing quickly down a hill back to the Finnish side. MALMI Shit! How many kills I'm going to put into record from that? HÄYHÄ One. MALMI I can't round off all of them to one! HÄYHÄ I only count my cartridges. EXT. FINNISH ARMY HEADQUARTERS - DAY General Hägglund ja colonel SVENSSON are sitting in a staff office. On the table between them, there's a Helsinki Times newspaper article with a title: BRAVE WARRIORS OF KOLLAA: "MAGIC SHOOTER" SERGEANT SIMO HÄYHÄ - 259 CONFIRMED KILLS HÄGGLUND Sweden has refused to send troops to Finland, and the trespassing of other western powers has been denied. To be, blunt, the situation looks painful.

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SVENSSON Did you read the latest reports from Kollaa? If we can keep our positions over the winter, we might get assistance in the summer. HÄGGLUND We can't count on that. But speaking of Kollaa, this sergeant Häyhä seems to be performing quite inspiringly. SVENSSON He was promoted when he had about two hundred confirmed kills. HÄGGLUND What rifle is he using, MosinNagant? SVENSSON Yes, M28. HÄGGLUND You know, there's no official help coming from Sweden, but there's this one Swedish businessman who wants to give a special rifle as a gift to the best marksman in Finnish army. I think sergeant Häyhä should get it, with a nice ceremony and some press coverage. EXT. RED HOUSE - DAY Häyhä stands in position, cold wind flapping his snow suit. Photographers takes pictures while Colonel Svensson makes a speech. SVENSSON This honorary rifle, received from Sweden as a gift, is given to Sergeant Simo Häyhä in recognition of his great achievements as a sniper and a user of other weapons in battle. His deed, 259 enemies shot with a rifle only, stands as a proof of what a resolute, sharpsighted Finnish man, who is not unnecessarily startled and who's hand doesn't shake, can achieve.

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Svensson gives the honorary rifle to Häyhä and shakes his hand. SVENSSON Put it in good use. HÄYHÄ Thank you, sir. Photographer takes more pictures of both men. EXT. HELSINKI TIMES OFFICE - DAY The photographer walks by a desk, where journalist Mika Waltari writes on his typewriter. The editor-inchief stands next to him smoking a pipe. On the desk, there's picture of the soldiers at Kollaa, with names under them. Under Häyhä's picture, there's numbers overlined: 259 263 269. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Here are the latest pictures and figures from the Kollaa front? WALTARI Yes. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Did you get anything new out of Häyhä? WALTARI Not much, I have to use pliers to get words out of that man. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 269 kills. Some extra to raise the morale, huh? Waltari glances the editor disapprovingly. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF The Russkies apparently have clues about him too, there's a rumor going on about a bounty on Häyhä's head. You know what they call him? The White Death. It's a catchy name, put that in there somewhere.

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EXT. RUSSIAN CAMP - DAY Commander Shtern sits in a tent and reads a newspaper while a medic is trimming his beard. On the other side of the tent, one of the wounded soldiers is screaming and struggling in a table while medics try to amputate his leg. SHTERN Why is that idiot still shouting? MEDIC I'm sorry, sir! The morphine has frozen, it's not working anymore. SHTERN I can't focus in this noise. Shtern rises from his chair, takes a razor, walks to the patient and slices his throat. Then he gets back to his chair. Shtern's adjutant comes in carrying a newspaper. SHTERN What now? Did the second patrol from the Lake Kollaa came back? ADJUTANT Sir, they found only frozen bodies. All were killed with a single bullet. SHTERN Let me guess, White Death again? ADJUTANT Sir, our agents behind the border sent us a Finnish newspaper. They are writing about him. Shtern looks at Häyhä's photograph and slams the paper on the table. SHTERN Bullshit Finnish propaganda! One man can't kill a whole platoon, no matter how good he is! ADJUTANT Should I keep this a secret from the men?

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SHTERN I don't care if it's one man or many, this problem needs to be taken care of. Men of Red Army, afraid to go into the forests! Shtern strikes his knife through Häyhä's photograph. SHTERN Listen. I don't care what strings you have to pull. I want the best Siberian counter-snipers you can find and I want this clown dead. EXT. RUSSIAN CAMP - DAY Truck arrives to the camp and three Siberian snipers jump out with scoped rifles. Their leader is CAPTAIN SURKOV. Commander Shtern and his adjutant are standing next to a shelter, adjutant is holding maps and reports. SURKOV Captain Surkov with his team reports to duty. SHTERN Let's get down to business. Where was the Finnish sniper last seen? ADJUTANT We have reports about an invisible sniper all over Kollaa. He changes his place constantly, but seems to favor the south sector and White Forest. I think it's best to pinpoint the search in these areas. We also have a soldier who claims to have seen the sniper. Cadet Ivan Maximovich! Cadet Ivan is brought in front of Shtern by two soldiers. Ivan has bruises on his face. SHTERN So, you have seen the sniper?

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IVAN O-only for a moment. I was in the White Forest camp, when two snipers started to shoot at us. The other one was wearing a gray mask and shooting like a madman. I was hit by a ricochet and was unconscious ADJUTANT A patrol found cadet last night, wandering in the White Forest without his weapon. SHTERN Did you run away, cadet? Are you a coward like the rest of them? IVAN No, sir! ADJUTANT We were about to execute cadet today, but since his family is from the Kollaa area, I suggest we send him as a guide. Shtern puts his pistol under Ivan's chin. SHTERN This is a secret mission. You guide these gentlemen to White Forest. You bring me back that Finnish snipers head. Understood? IVAN Understood, sir! EXT. DESTROYED RUSSIAN CAMP - MORNING Finnish ski patrol is advancing near the destroyed Russian camp. Suddenly, there's three rifle shots from the hill and three Finnish soldiers go down. FINNISH SOLDIER Ambush! Get cover! The Russian snipers watch the Finns through their scopes. Cadet Ivan stands behind them in snow shoes, biting his gloves.

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The second Russian sniper shoots a snowy tree and Finnish soldiers head comes into sight. Third sniper shoots the Finnish soldier. SNIPER TWO That was for me. SNIPER THREE Bah. Let's just count that as one for both. SURKOV Shut up. Eliminate them quickly, we're on a mission. Surkov spots one of the Finns skiing away further away, adjusts his rifle scope and targets the skier. SURKOV One good sniper in a right spot can keep a whole sector under his control. If you have enough time and ammo on your hands, you can take a whole army by yourself. Surkov shoots the Finnish skier in the back. EXT. WHITE FOREST - DAY Russian soldiers are walking in a scattered line in the White forest. Suddenly, there's shots from a nearby hill and the Russians start to run back where they came from... ...passing by the Siberian snipers, who are hiding behind trees and rocks. Ivan sits behind a tree with a rifle. SURKOV Can you see him? SNIPER TWO I can see only white. SNIPER THREE No target. SURKOV This guy is slick. Time passes, snipers are waiting.

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Ivan is freezing in his flimsy uniform. Suddenly, there's a shot from the Finnish side, and a branch over the third sniper shears off, falling on the sniper. Third sniper is startled by the branch and his helmet is over the rock momentarily. In that brief moment, a second bullet goes through his helmet. SURKOV What happened? SNIPER TWO I think he's dead. SURKOV Stupid mistake. He's good, just as I thought. SNIPER TWO I'll flank him. Surkov watches the hillside through his scope while second sniper crawls. SURKOV Just one mistake would be enough... Sniper two crawls slowly further, takes a peak and spots Häyhä's rifle coming out of a snowdrift under large firs. SNIPER TWO I can see you... Sniper raises his rifle and scopes the snowdrift, smiling triumphantly... ... but then Häyhä's rifle suddenly turns and shoots quickly. The bullet flies straight through the Siberian snipers scope and into his face. Surkov smiles - he saw Häyhä's sudden movement. SURKOV Now I got you. Surkov shoots the snowdrift two times, changes his position and waits.

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Häyhä's rifle is gone, but then Surkov sees movement behind the trees - Häyhä's snow suit. Surkov shoots two times again. SURKOV Trying to escape, eh? Not going to work. Cadet Ivan follows the sniper battle with a mirror from behind a tree, shaking. Surkov crawls next to his scope-sniped comrade and watches the forest where he saw Häyhä. SURKOV Come out, come out... A snow drops down from a tree in the middle of the area. Surkov instantly shoots under the tree. SURKOV Oh, you came closer instead of running? Clever, clever... Surkov slowly takes a stick hand grenade from his belt, and starts to throw it, raising his hand... ...when a bullet hits the grenade's handle. The grenade flies backwards, behind Surkov. Surkov turns around in disbelief. SURKOV Oh fucking hell no! CUT TO: Ivan hears a grenade blast and covers his ears. He glances from behind the tree and sees Surkov lying dead on snow. Suddenly, a shot scratches Ivan's cheek and Ivan turns back to cover, accidentally shooting to the air with his rifle. He's shaking, cheek bleeding. He closes his eyes, waiting for death. EXT. WHITE FOREST - NIGHT The forest is freezing cold. Siberian sniper's bodies are frozen to the ground. Ivan is still sitting behind the tree, blood frozen to his cheek.

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IVAN (mumbling) You can't be there anymore, can't you? Are you still waiting for me? Wolfs howl somewhere. Ivan moves a bit and starts to crawl like a snake, keeping his hands pressed against his chest inside the jacket. IVAN You're not there anymore, you can't be there anymore... Ivan crawls slowly through the dark forest. EXT. KOLLAA CAMP - MORNING We see an old, brown-colored newsreel from the Winter War. Finnish reporter is interviewing Juutilainen in the camp. REPORTER Now, as I am walking here in the front line, the Terror of Morocco, or as he is called in civilian life, captain Juutilainen, was fetched here for an interview. I'll ask him to tell us freely about his actions, and the actions of his men... and so, as I was saying, tell us freely about what we were talking about a moment ago. JUUTILAINEN Well, I don't know what in particular I should tell here, but the boys are kinda wondering when this additional refresher course is going to end and when the war is going to start... The boys have been fighting from the day one, and I'm very pleased with these sinners. Most of the company are from Rautjärvi and some boys are from Merikarvia, but both are equally good. We're getting along nicely with other companies, and artillery, and antitank brigade. All are good, easy-going boys.

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REPORTER Has there been some peculiar missions, or a particularly difficult mission, or other adventures? Tell us freely. JUUTILAINEN I don't remember any missions being particularly difficult or peculiar. Well, we had a bit of a laugh the other day, was it fourteenth day, when we smashed five tanks and one of them just stopped, so the boys went to open the hatch with a bayonet, but the Russkies were hanging from the hatch, keeping it shut. REPORTER And then? JUUTILAINEN Well, when the boys took their knives off the hatch, the Russkies opened it and threw a grenade out. Four grenades they threw before the boys got tired of it and threw their own grenade in. Then the Russkies didn't throw anymore. REPORTER Oh... JUUTILAINEN It was right here, about five hundred meters, behind that curve, you can see it from here. REPORTER Yes, I asked before about these artillery hunts you've been doing, you have been hunting cannons? JUUTILAINEN Yes, well, we've taken five Molotovs and one field cannon. REPORTER Molotov...?

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JUUTILAINEN It's one of these Russian far reaching 45 millimeters, very good cannons. They took the lock out of three of them, but we've been shooting the Russkies with two. One is in position right now. REPORTER So, the own dogs are biting? JUUTILAINEN Yeah, and with their own rounds, of course. We don't need anything from the home front. REPORTER You take everything from neighbors? JUUTILAINEN We've been giving some to other companies. Right here we have six heavy machine guns, thirty light machine guns, and some other trash. Pistols and things like that. They're all from Russkies, they have good stuff. REPORTER I noticed that there's something in the corner of your eye, has something scratched it? Well, while stuck heavy

JUUTILAINEN a little accident happened a ago, a grenade shard got to my face. We only got four machine guns off that trip.

REPORTER There's something on your leg too, is there... JUUTILAINEN This fur coat is from the neighbors too, so I thought I need a matching slipper. REPORTER Oh, the coat is from Russkies too?

"White Death" JUUTILAINEN Yeah, well, they had only two of these, so they gave both to us. And three heavy machine guns and two cannons. REPORTER And to keep with the fashion, a slipper to your right foot? JUUTILAINEN Yeah, to match it with the coat. Birdy walks by behind Juutilainen. BIRDY Just say honestly that you got wounded again. JUUTILAINEN Well, I guess there's a wound or two, but they're very little. I have a rocking chair in the tent, I just place that on the hill and I got a new scoped rifle from the Russkies too, so I'm doing fine. REPORTER That reminds me - the famous Magic Shooter, sergeant Simo Häyhä, is he around for an interview? JUUTILAINEN Simo is not around now, he's racketing somewhere in the forests. REPORTER Ah, so... well, thank you for taking time for this interview, captain Aarne Juutilainen. JUUTILAINEN Thanks you very much, and also I'd want to say hello to my brother Ilmari in the air forces Newsreel ends.

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EXT. KOLLAA ROAD - DAY Juutilainen, Uosikkinen, Birdy and other soldiers are examining smoking Russian vehicles and bodies on the road. Juutilainen is dragging his right leg and he has a bandage around his head. He's kicking frozen corpses out of his way, then stops to check one officers pockets and finds papers. JUUTILAINEN These boys are from Ukraine. A pitiful fate. Young boys are brought from southern warmth to fight here in snow and ice. Uosikkinen opens an ammunition box and looks at strange cartridges marked with red or green bands. UOSIKKINEN Captain, what are these? JUUTILAINEN Well I'll be damned, they have these bastards too. These are explosive and incendiary rounds. BIRDY I thought exploding bullets were prohibited in international declarations. JUUTILAINEN You can send a note to Stalin about that. Häyhä and Malmi come out of the forest, greeting everyone. JUUTILAINEN Simuna, how's the new rifle working? HÄYHÄ Good. MALMI Captain, are you wounded again? JUUTILAINEN Oh, knife just slipped while shaving, not a biggie.

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Suddenly, Juutilainen sees a medic coming and hides behind the tank. JUUTILAINEN That damn medic is trying to send me back home again... Hey, Simo, one more thing. Juutilainen throws a pack of armor-piercing cartridges to Häyhä. JUUTILAINEN Take some armor-piercing bullets for your new rifle. I have a feeling they might become handy soon. INT. LENINGRAD - DAY SUPER:

LENINGRAD, PRIME MINISTER MOLOTOV'S RESIDENCE

General Khabarov is standing in front of prime minister Molotov's desk. Molotov is looking out of the window. On the desk, there's a map of Kollaa area. Molotov turns and throws a pencil in rage towards Khabarov. MOLOTOV You have tens of thousands of men, hundreds of tanks, artillery and aircraft, and you can't kill one man?! KHABAROV The Finns are fighting like cockroaches and the harsh weather conditions are slowing the troops down considerably. But commander Shtern is sure he can MOLOTOV Have you seen the Finnish newspapers? They write about the unbreakable line of Kollaa! And this White Death, one man making fools out of the whole Eight Army!

"White Death" KHABAROV Commissar, the one called White Death is probably a group of specially trained soldiers. The papers are writing about one man just to cover up the fact MOLOTOV I don't care! You and Shtern are a shame to Mother Russia! You will attack immediately and crush the Finnish resistance, every damn soldier! I want Baron Mannerheim to crawl on his knees in front of me! If you can't do your job, commander Timoshenko will take your place, and you and Shtern will get a new post at Siberia! KHABAROV Understood, sir. MOLOTOV Stalin will turn sixty soon and I want to give him the Grand Duchy of Finland back as a present... How the hell is that so hard, Khabarov?! INT. COMMANDER SHTERN'S TENT - DAY Commander Shtern is standing in his tent and talking to Khabarov on the phone. KHABAROV (O.S.) Shtern, what is really going on at Kollaa? SHTERN There has been some mild complications. KHABAROV I don't want to hear anymore about one man slaughtering our best men. SHTERN General, I don't believe the theory about one shooter either.

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KHABAROV Heads are going to drop if you can't take care of the situation. Khabarov shuts the phone. Shtern looks at his adjutant standing on the other side of the tent. SHTERN What is the best way to find a needle from a haystack? ADJUTANT I don't know, sir. SHTERN We'll bomb the whole forest into hell! The Fourth Artillery Battalion moves to the Kollaa swamp area. DREAM SEQUENCE: EXT. WHITE FOREST - DAY Cadet Ivan walks in a pure, white snow under clear sky with a rifle. From the corner of his eye, he sees a white, translucent, vibrating figure - a ghost of White Death. Ivan escapes, shooting at the trees. The white ghost flashes by and moves further away. Ivan hears a slow rumbling sound and turns around in panic. The white ghost is in front of him, white cape flapping in a sudden gust of wind. Ivan tries to run, but the ghost appears in front of him from behind a tree and raises his white rifle... END DREAM SEQUENCE INT. TENT IN THE RUSSIAN CAMP - MORNING Cadet Ivan wakes up, face in cold sweat, bandage on his cheek. Soldiers are talking outside the tent. SOLDIER ONE (O.S.) You know, the one White Death wounded?

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SOLDIER TWO (O.S.) Yeah, I heard this guy has seen him twice and lived. Tough guy, huh? SOLDIER ONE (O.S.) Nah, he's afraid of his own shadow. EXT. RUSSIAN CAMP - DAY Young Russian soldier is on his knees on the snow, and Commander Shtern shoots him in the back of his neck. SHTERN There are no ghosts in the forest! There is only Finnish soldiers with antiquated rifles! Every soldier who runs away from the battle will be executed! Cadet Ivan stands on the line with others and tries to avoid Shtern gaze. SHTERN Comrades! Today is the day the Eight Army will trample the Finnish army! We will show these animals the true power of Mother Russia! INT. KOLLAA CAMP COMMANDER'S TENT - MORNING MONTAGE: Häyhä wakes up. He eats porridge and bread for breakfast. He cleans and checks his rifle, arranges cartridges on the table, checks them, and collects the cartridge combs into his shoulder bag. He puts a bayonet in his leg strap, two hand grenades under his snow suit, and stuffs crisp bread and sugar cubes into his pockets. He puts his gray mask on and pulls the white hood of the snow suit on his helmet, then steps out of the tent into a yellow morning sunlight. END MONTAGE: EXT. KOLLAA ROAD - MORNING A line of Russian prisoners walking on the side of the road in freezing cold, Finnish soldiers guarding them.

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One Finnish officer stands in the middle of the road in a ridiculously large fur coat and shouts commands. OFFICER Forward, march faster! Häyhä walks by on the other side of the road, near the treeline. The prisoners stare at Häyhä and whisper. PRISONER White Death... OFFICER Oh? He has killed hundreds of you, you know? PRISONER Is he... normal? Suddenly, the prisoners further ahead slow down and stare at a Finnish field sauna by the road. Finns run out of the sauna naked, roll on the snow laughing, throw snowballs at each other while cursing and then run back to sauna. EXT. WHITE FOREST - DAY Three Russian soldiers walk in a tight line along a forest path. Häyhä and Malmi are in position behind rocks on a hill. MALMI Just three men. You want me to take care of them? Häyhä observes the situation silently while eating a sugar cube. Malmi sighs, starts to target the men. HÄYHÄ Shoot the last one. MALMI Last one. Malmi shoots the last soldier and we see that the last soldier had a pistol in his hand. The two soldiers in front raise their hands, surrendering, but then look around and start to run away. Malmi targets them, but Häyhä blocks his scope with his hand.

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HÄYHÄ Something is wrong. Häyhä looks around and spots a wolf running deeper into the forest. EXT. FROZEN SWAMP - DAY Russian artillery at the swamp area. A FIRE CONTROLLER looks into his targeting scope while another soldier writes numbers down. FIRE CONTROLLER Heading 85, distance 1100... CUT TO: HÄYHÄ Let's move. Häyhä takes his skis and heads back down the hillside. Malmi follows him, carrying his own skis. Suddenly, artillery starts a heavy bombardment of the forest and the hill. MALMI What kind of monster cannon they have brought here? CUT TO: FIRE CONTROLLER Right 50, continue 200... CUT TO: Häyhä and Malmi run down the hill. The top of the hill explodes, Malmi falls down on his skis and the left ski snaps in half. MALMI Damn it! Häyhä turns back and helps Malmi on his feet. Another explosion nearby throws piles of snow and tree branches on them. Häyhä gives his own skis to Malmi. HÄYHÄ You go back. MALMI What about you?

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HÄYHÄ They're after me. MALMI But HÄYHÄ Go. I take care of this alone. Häyhä starts to run to the north side. Malmi puts on Häyhä's skis and heads west. CUT TO: Russian tanks and aerosanis appear from behind a small forest island, moving over the swamp to the White forest tree line. Commander Shtern sits on a tank and watches the bombardment with binoculars. His adjutant is holding a spotter periscope next to him. SHTERN More shells! I want the whole forest burn to the ground! ADJUTANT Look the left, commander! I think I saw a figure dressed in white! SHTERN Concentrate the fire on the north side of the hill! CUT TO: Häyhä runs ridges and him, Häyhä hits near,

down the hill, slides on his back between drops to deep snow. More explosions around sloshes through the snow. One of the rounds throwing snow everywhere...

CUT TO: The bombardment has stopped, smoke in the forest is clearing. Russian soldiers walk over blackened, destroyed forest, ready to shoot everything. One of the soldiers spots a snow suit hanging from a tree.

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Over there! Soldiers shoot the snow suit. Behind the soldiers, branches of a fir tree move and Häyhä's rifle barrel comes out under the tree, with a bayonet attached to it. One of the Russian soldiers stands on a rock holding a light machine gun. Häyhä stabs the soldier in the back with a bayonet, takes his light machine gun and pulls the soldier down. Then he pins the light machine gun to the soldiers shoulder and turns the gun to the other Russian soldiers. CUT TO: Commander Shtern stands on a tank near the swamp and waits. SHTERN Find his body! I'm going to nail that bastards head on the wall of my hunting cabin. Suddenly, they hear a light machine gun firing in the forest, then we hear more shooting and explosions. SHTERN What the hell is going on? One of the soldiers in the forest runs to swamp, jumping over bombarded ground. SCARED SOLDIER He's still there! It's still alive! A shot from the forest hits the running soldier in the back. Machine gun tanks start to shoot the forest. SHTERN That son of a bitch! I want more artillery fire right now! ADJUTANT Commander, a message from the camp. There's a blizzard heading our way, coming from the south -

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COMMANDER That cockroach must die! Flank him through the inlet! We're not going back to camp until that son of a bitch is dead! EXT. KOLLAA SIDE ROAD - NIGHT Flares fly to sky and fall down to a dark forest. It's snowing heavily, wolfs are howling far away. Russian vehicles turn away from the frozen lake and continue along a small road. Behind the first heavy tank follows Commander Shtern in a light tank, followed by two aerosanis, and then soldiers skiing or walking behind them. SHTERN No matter how good he is, he can't hide forever! We've trapped him! CUT TO: Häyhä is hiding behind trees, shooting soldiers running towards him. Russians are shaking in fear and cold, but continue to run forward. CUT TO: The heavy tank stop before a pothole - the side road is a dead end. ADJUTANT It's a dead end, commander, we can't get through with vehicles! SHTERN That bastard lead us here on purpose! ADJUTANT Do we turn back? Suddenly, a shot from the dark forest hits the first tank driver in the head through the viewing slit, and second shot takes out the bright lamp on the tank. Soldiers run for cover behind the tanks and trees. ADJUTANT Commander?

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SHTERN We're not returning empty handed. Tell the aerosanis to move forward. Two more shots from the forest, two more dead soldiers. One of the soldiers loses his nerves and runs forward shooting rapidly. RUSSIAN SOLDIER Where are you? Where are you?! The soldier gets shot in the neck. The aerosanis move forward trying to go around the pothole through forest. Häyhä shoots the first aerosani driver in the head, and the aerosanis bump into each other. The first aerosani starts to slide down to the pothole. The second aerosani presses full speed ahead while trying to avoid the same fate, but topples over. The shooter on the top of second aerosani falls on the ground, gets crushed under the skid. ADJUTANT We're like fishes in a barrel on this clearing. SHTERN Men, move forward! Attack! This is an order! He must be out of ammo! Commander Shtern takes his pistol and shoots one of his soldiers hiding behind a tree. SHTERN Attack, you incompetent cowards! RUSSIAN SOLDIER He's in the trees! Suddenly, all the soldiers start to shoot the trees swinging in the rising blizzard. Commander looks around and sees A WHITE OWL flying in the snowfall between trees. SHTERN Stop firing, idiots! It's just an owl!

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Another shot from the dark, another soldier dies. RUSSIAN SOLDIER Where did that shot came from? Did anyone saw where that came from?! One of the soldiers is hiding behind a rock, freezing, and a second soldier behind a tank motions him to crawl over and warm up next to the tank engine. The soldier starts to crawl, but Häyhä shoots his leg. SOLDIER BEHIND A TANK Covering fire! Shoot the trees! The wounded soldier cries in pain. The soldier behind the tank runs for help, but he gets shot in his chest. The snowfall and wind are rising. SHTERN Stop shooting the fucking trees, he's not flying up in the trees! He wants us to stay pinned down, move forward! Häyhä shoots the Soviet flag in commander Shtern's tank and the flag falls down. Shtern crouches. SHTERN Bastard is trying to scare us! Attack now or I will shoot everyone myself! Shtern points his pistol to a soldier shaking behind a tree, shoots him, then points the pistol to a second soldier. SHTERN The choice is yours, soldier! The soldier grits his teeth and runs to the next tree... and a bullet scratches the soldiers helmet. SOLDIER How the hell he can target us in this snowstorm?! The soldier moves again, and the next shot hits a tree.

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SHTERN He can't hit you anymore! Attack with bayonets! The soldiers get some of their courage back and start to move to the forest, but the snowstorm is escalating and the soldiers are disappearing into the snow... EXT. KOLLAA SIDE ROAD - MORNING The blizzard is over. The tanks are are under piles of snow and soldiers are digging them up. In the pothole, Ivan climbs and crawls out of the first fallen aerosani, shaking, and sees more Russian soldiers coming along the side road. Commander Shtern comes out of the light tank. SHTERN And now the backup forces arrive! That son of a bitch sure has luck on his side, we would've got him without this damn blizzard! Suddenly, something is moving in the forest and frightened soldiers hit the ground... ...but it's just a wolf, running behind the trees. Shtern sees that the wolf is dragging an arm of a dead soldier in its teeth. SHTERN The wolves are going to eat well this year. EXT. KOLLAA CAMP - DAY Häyhä returns to camp in the middle of the day, dragging his feet, without his snow suit, completely exhausted. Malmi waits on the hill and spots Häyhä walking on the road with his binoculars. MALMI It's Simo! He's alive! CUT TO: Captain Juutilainen and Malmi welcome Häyhä back.

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Are you okay? HÄYHÄ I need a new snow suit. JUUTILAINEN Write to Santa Claus, maybe he'll bring you a soft present this year. Häyhä nods and walks to the commander's tent. Now we see that the back of Häyhä's uniform has burned completely black. MALMI I call the medic. EXT. RUSSIAN CAMP - NIGHT Commander Shtern is sitting in a hot bath. His adjutant knocks the tent pole and steps in. ADJUTANT Commander Shtern, an important phone call for you. SHTERN General Khabarov again? ADJUTANT No. It's prime minister Molotov himself. Shtern winces and steps out of the bath. SHTERN What does he want? ADJUTANT I think he wants us to continue our march to Helsinki. EXT. KOLLAA ROAD, RUSSIAN SIDE - MORNING Cadet Ivan, leaning on crutches, cranks a record player and The Internationale starts to play. Ivan straightens his back and looks to his right. A long line of soldiers, vehicles and artillery marchers along the road.

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Aerosanis arrive over a frozen lake and ski troops follow the aerosanis. Commander Shtern stands on a hill watching the troops and his adjutant lights his cigarette. SHTERN The weather is good. It's all or nothing today. EXT. KOLLAA HILL - DAY Finnish soldiers are running in trenches. Russians are attacking full on over a bombarded expanse. Häyhä, in a new snow suit, runs behind a soldier who is trying to shoot a Russian machine gunner. SOLDIER Sergeant Häyhä, could you shoot that machine gun out of there? Häyhä stops and aims, shoots the machine gun operator and keeps on running. SOLDIER Thanks a lot, sergeant! CUT TO: Juutilainen walks in a trench holding a coffee mug and stops behind Uosikkinen. Uosikkinen is watching the Russian troops, who are gathering on the tree line on the other side of expanse. JUUTILAINEN What's going on here? Someone coming for a visit? UOSIKKINEN The Soviets. JUUTILAINEN Merde! They again? Well, it's a fine weather today, I guess. Juutilainen notices a young soldier next to Uosikkinen, holding his rifle with a frightened look on his face.

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JUUTILAINEN Keep your head cool, you're doing fine. Shells hit the Kollaa hill and some gravel rains on Juutilainen and the soldiers. Juutilainen covers his coffee mug with his right hand. Smoke bombs are fired. The row of Russians starts to march towards Finnish positions in a tigh t formation, while The Internationale plays. JUUTILAINEN Coming again in the rhythm of the polka. Juutilainen gives his coffee mug to the young soldier. JUUTILAINEN Hold this for a moment, Captain needs to teach the steps of polonaise to these rookies. Juutilainen takes a light machine gun, jumps out of the trench and runs towards enemy while dragging his left leg. JUUTILAINEN Fire at their balls! Finnish machine guns are reaping the marching Russians, while Russian artillery keeps on shooting the Finnish trenches. Juutilainen empties the light machine gun and starts to shoot with his revolver while running back to trench. JUUTILAINEN Remember to keep your head down, boys! Medic waits Juutilainen with a walking stick. MEDIC You should listen to your own orders, Captain! And for heavens sake, change those bandages on your hand! JUUTILAINEN Russkies are gonna kill my boys if I'm not here to watch over them!

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CUT TO: Häyhä is at the north side of hill. Russians advance towards razor wires on the expanse, staying behind armored plates. Häyhä loads the armour piercing bullets to his rifle and shoots through the plates. Russians retreat momentarily, but then a light tank crosses the razor wire... ...but hits Finnish mines. Russians jump out of the tank, trying to run back, and Häyhä shoots them. CUT TO: Juutilainen jumps to a trench where Finnish soldiers are shooting with a grenade launcher. The puzzled men turn to look at Juutilainen, who reloads his revolver. JUUTILAINEN Shoot, shoot, no need to be shy! I just popped in for a short visit, you have a cozy trench here! CUT TO: Bullets hit close to Häyhä's position, Häyhä rolls in the snow. Russians are rushing to the hill. RUSSIAN SOLDIERS Uraa! Uraa! Häyhä shoots three soldiers and hears a Finnish soldier screaming behind him. FINNISH SOLDIER Medic! Malmi is pulling the screaming soldier back to cover. CUT TO: Juutilainen is talking on a field phone while medic is bandaging his leg. JUUTILAINEN You hear me? Right side, more to the right! Okay!

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A Finnish artillery shell hits the expanse. Juutilainen raises his head and sees that a Russian tank has stopped near the rocks and another tank behind it has also in a narrow passage. Second round hits near the second tank. JUUTILAINEN (on the phone) That was a good shot, continue! CUT TO: Behind the Kollaa hill, Finnish gunners are rolling their Russian-made cannon in a calm manner. GUNNER ONE sits while GUNNER TWO stands and cranks the barrel higher. GUNNER ONE Where should we shoot next? GUNNER TWO Let's shoot the same place we shot yesterday. GUNNER ONE That was a good target. The projectile leaves the barrel abruptly, shaking the ground. Gunner Two salutes calmly. CUT TO: Juutilainen, Birdy and medic are walking in a trench away from the explosions. JUUTILAINEN Russkies sure are trying hard today. BIRDY A report from the battery, they're low on ammunition! JUUTILAINEN Tell them to throw rocks and skulls, if that's what it takes. CUT TO: Häyhä keeps on shooting and loads a new comb, but the Russian horde is getting closer. Malmi runs back from the woods.

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MALMI Simo! We have to retreat! Häyhä checks his bag - only a few combs left. He runs back to the trench and follows Malmi. Russians take the hill from the north side and one of the soldiers strikes a Soviet flag on the ground. EXT. BEHIND THE KOLLAA HILL - NIGHT Häyhä and other soldiers are hiding behind boulders, eating rye bread. The battle continues further away, machine guns are shooting down from the hill and flares are flying in the sky. Juutilainen walks over and sits down to talk with the tired men. JUUTILAINEN I have a feeling the Russkies are not serious with this attack. Some of the soldiers laugh. SOLDIER ONE They're crazy, marching in like in a parade and dying like flies right next to each other. JUUTILAINEN Well, Stalin is pushing their backs. If Stalin says that the Red Army marches to Helsinki without resistance, then the Red Army marches to Helsinki without resistance. They're just following orders, poor bastards. SOLDIER TWO We have to save bullets and they're squandering soldiers! This is fucking hopeless. JUUTILAINEN That's the spirit! Now let's think how we're gonna take that hill back.

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EXT. KOLLAA HILL - MORNING The Finns are trying to attack back to the hill, but the Russian machine guns and grenade launchers are keeping them down. Juutilainen is crouching behind a boulder, Birdy and Uosikkinen are crouching next to him. UOSIKKINEN Not going to happen. We have to get get those launchers out of the way first. JUUTILAINEN They're burrowing closer using the grenade rain as a cover. The whole row needs to be destroyed. We could go round using the ditches, maybe flank them from the north side... UOSIKKINEN That's a suicide mission! There's no way to get behind them from there now. Häyhä steps forward, attaching a bayonet to his rifle, carrying petrol bombs. HÄYHÄ I'll go. JUUTILAINEN Alone? HÄYHÄ Someone has to do it. UOSIKKINEN Impossible, there's no way to get through that wall of lead. HÄYHÄ One short guy could squeeze through a crack. JUUTILAINEN Well, since you're already dressed up for the party...

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EXT. KOLLAA HILL, RUSSIAN SIDE - DAY Russians are walking in the Kollaa hill trenches. The Internationale is playing on repeat near Commander Shtern's tent. More tanks and artillery coming through the road. CUT TO: A Russian patrol runs through smoke and fire, jumping over frozen corpses. Suddenly, a heap of clothes near the trampled razor line starts to move... Häyhä runs hunched through the smoke, throws the dead soldiers clothes away and drops down to a trench... Häyhä runs forward, stops behind a burning tank and shoots four grenadiers down rapidly, and then takes a last shot on one of the riflemen nearby. The Russian riflemen turn to look, but Häyhä is gone. CUT TO: A Russian soldier walks out of dugout. Häyhä appears from behind a corner and shoots him in the stomach. Häyhä takes a hand grenade and starts to throw it into the dugout, but another soldier comes out. Häyhä throws the grenade right to the soldiers face and the soldier slips on the icy floor, falling on his back. Häyhä takes cover behind the corner and the grenade explodes. Soldiers run to check the explosion, Häyhä moves forward and shoots the first two soldiers. Then he throws a petrol bomb behind the corner. RUSSIAN SOLDIER ONE Where did he came from?! RUSSIAN SOLDIER TWO It's that sniper! The White Death! The first Russian soldier throws a grenade over the snow bank towards Häyhä. Häyhä thinks fast, turns his rifle grenade back like a baseball, then his rifle around again, and shoots the air. The grenade explodes over

around and hits the immediately turns the grenade from the trench.

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Submachine gun fires from the side, Häyhä rolls to cover and leans his back on the trench wall. A soldier runs on the edge of the trench over Häyhä, and Häyhä pushes his rifle under the soldiers chin, bayonet first, then shoots him. The soldier falls down to the trench and Häyhä pulls the bayonet out. Suddenly, a soldier in black mask attacks Häyhä from the right, and Häyhä shoots him in the stomach. More soldiers come after him, Häyhä shoots four of them like in a shooting range and starts to load his rifle... ...but the soldier in black mask suddenly rises up again and tries to strike Häyhä with a dagger, slashing Häyhä's arm. Häyhä drops his rifle and falls on his back, and the soldier tries to jump on him, but Häyhä blocks with his leg and kicks the wounded soldier in the groin. Häyhä takes a pistol from belt of a dead soldier next to him and shoots the blackmasked soldier two times. More soldiers are coming, Häyhä jumps up, picks up his rifle and runs. Häyhä jumps out of the trench and the snow explodes behind him. He runs through a Russian field kitchen, shooting two confused cooks and and one officer eating soup. Häyhä stops, cadet Ivan is standing next to the record player. Ivan screams, leaves his crutches and jumps into the tent. Häyhä turns his rifle down, shoots the record player and music stops. Häyhä throws a second petrol bomb to the field kitchen and keeps on running. Ivan looks out of the tent, terrified. CUT TO: Commander Shtern runs to the tree line, where his adjutant is talking to a field phone and a soldier is watching the area with binoculars. SHTERN What the hell is going on in there?

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ADJUTANT Apparently that sniper is now running in our trenches and destroyed one of our field kitchens. SHTERN What?! SOLDIER Over there, commander! Shtern takes the soldiers binoculars and looks over to the artillery site. One of the cannons is on fire and behind the flames, he sees a white snow suit disappearing to a trench. SHTERN No way in hell this is true! Kill that son of a bitch now! Bring my car, I'm going after him myself! CUT TO: An armored car and an artillery tractor stop on the side of the snow road. Commander Shtern and his adjutant walk into the armored car. SHTERN That fool made a fatal mistake coming out here in the open. He might be dangerous from far away, but in a close combat he's dog food! CUT TO: Häyhä runs away from the Russian side, to the north, and hides behind a fallen tree. A soldier runs next to the tree and Häyhä pierces the soldiers neck with a bayonet while simultaneously kicking him against the trench wall, then... ...Häyhä jumps out at end of the trench, rolls down a rocky slope, throws his last grenade behind him and keeps on running into the forest. A row of soldiers try to flank him, but Häyhä runs on fallen tree trunks like an acrobat, leaving the soldiers wading in the snow behind.

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Häyhä loads his rifle while running, jumps down on a rock while turning in the air, shoots five of the soldiers after landing, and jumps down behind the rock. CUT TO: A group of soldiers standing on the road, and more soldiers climbing on the hill on the right side of the road. The armored car and the artillery tractor stop on the side of the road. SHTERN Did you kill that son of a bitch? STANDING SOLDIER He got through us and escaped to the ridges! SHTERN He's just one man, you imbeciles! How the hell did you let him escape? Shtern looks to his left and sees a line of dead soldiers in the forest. Aerosani is burning further away of the road. Shtern looks back to the right and sees a blood trail going up the hill. SHTERN Is he wounded? Did you hit that bastard, is he wounded?! Shtern takes his own scoped rifle and jumps out of the car. SHTERN That son of a bitch is wounded! I'm going to hunt him down like an animal! ADJUTANT Commander, the enemy is trying to take the captured hill back! SHTERN Then go there and stop them!

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ADJUTANT Commander, they're asking for more artillery support SHTERN Just fucking crush them! Execute all who protest and attack! Commander Shtern leads a group of soldiers to the forest after Häyhä. Adjutant is left standing on the road with a field phone and officers asking for orders. CUT TO: Finnish soldiers are capturing the Kollaa hill back, cleaning the trenches with submachine guns. Juutilainen runs to the hill, still dragging his leg, and Finnish soldiers run past him. JUUTILAINEN Kill them all, boys! I heard the peace talks are going well! Russians abandon their positions, leave their machine guns and run away. UOSIKKINEN Push through, men! They're running! Juutilainen returns to his old position on the hill, pulls a Soviet flag off the ground and throws it after the escaping Russians. JUUTILAINEN Come back, you forgot this! UOSIKKINEN First they come with a rush, and when you kill half of them, the other half escapes. Weird tactic. JUUTILAINEN Maybe the thorns pressing their spines fell off. EXT. KOLLAA FOREST - DAY Commander Shtern and his group follows the bloody traces left by Häyhä.

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Suddenly, Häyhä shoots from far away, but the bullet hits a tree. SHTERN We know you're wounded and out of bullets! Come out and surrender! Shtern's voice echoes in the forest. SHTERN You five are with me, we flank him and force him out. Most of the soldiers, lead by soldier JEVGENI, follow Häyhä's tracks. Shtern's group turns to the south. CUT TO: Shtern and his group climb up a slope to a clearing, and then stop behind boulders. Shtern sees a white figure crouching up on the ridges. SHTERN I got you now, you damned creeper... CUT TO: Jevgenis group, following Häyhä's tracks, hears rifle shots from the other side of the ridges, but they continue to follow the tracks. After they turn behind large rocks, Häyhä's tracks suddenly end and they see a bloody arm of a dead Russian on the ground. JEVGENI No... Commander Shtern! The soldiers turn around and start to run back. CUT TO: Shtern, wounded to his leg, is hiding behind a rock on the clearing, holding his pistol. Five dead soldiers are lying on the snow next to him. Jevgenis group reaches the clearing. One of the soldiers gets a bullet to his shoulder immediately, and they retreat back down the hill. SHTERN Come get me! This is an order!

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The soldiers look up on the ridges, but they can't see anything. JEVGENI He's waiting us... SOLDIER It's a certain death, if we try to approach that clearing. SHTERN Cowards! You'll be executed without a court martial if you don't get me out of here! Häyhä shoots again, and one the grenades on a dead soldier explodes. SHTERN He's just bullshitting you! That was his last bullet, you hear me?! The Russian soldiers look at each other in silence and then start to crawl back down the hill. SHTERN Bring a cannon and blow up that Finnish cockroach! Five million rubles to the man who saves me! Shtern shouts alone, the soldiers are gone. He tightens the tourniquet on his leg and holds his pistol, hand shaking. SHTERN Are you waiting me to show my face? You want to see my face when you shoot me?! Shtern waits. The sun is going down, woods are getting darker, moon is coming up. The forest is silent, explosions rumble far away. SHTERN What are you waiting for?! Suddenly, a wolf howls nearby. Shtern takes his belt bag and throws it. Nothing happens. Carefully, Shtern starts to move towards the tree line, watching the ridges illuminated by moonlight.

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He crawls to the first tree, then jumps up and dives behind a rock. He smiles in relief when he sees the path, and starts to slide down the hill... ...but suddenly a wolf attacks from the woods and starts to maul Shterns leg. Shtern screams in agony. INT. RED HOUSE - NIGHT In the Red house, a record player plays Christmas music. A Christmas tree has been decorated on the corner with candies and flags. Finnish army officers are eating on the table, chatting merrily. OFFICER ONE So the Russkies attacked from south and east, but our soldiers weren't there anymore. Guys from the neighboring company salted them a bit and the Russkies started to fight against each other! Carl von Haartman sits on the other side of the room and talks to Juutilainen on the phone. HAARTMAN Juutilainen, what's the situation at Kollaa? JUUTILAINEN (O.S.) Quite exciting. HAARTMAN You need any help? EXT. KOLLAA HILL - NIGHT Russian artillery shells hit the Kollaa hill near a dugout. On the dugout doorway, there's a wooden sign that says: VILLA BOMBA INT. VILLA BOMBA - NIGHT Juutilainen sits on his rocking chair, reading Zane Grey's western, and talks to a field phone. Gravel drops from the roof every time a shell hits the ground.

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JUUTILAINEN I think I can finish this on my own. HAARTMAN (O.S.) I can hear the bombardment, Juutilainen. JUUTILAINEN Uosikkinen is just chopping some fire wood. CUT TO: EXT. BEHIND THE VILLA BOMBA - NIGHT Uosikkinen is standing in snow and sawing a long log in half, not caring about the bombardment. INT. RED HOUSE - NIGHT Officers are laughing on the table and Haartman moves to a corner to hear the phone better. HAARTMAN Captain, tell me the real situation. JUUTILAINEN Well, they're just throwing dirt on us, nothing urgent. Probably waiting for a new commissar from Moscow when the old guy got lost in the forest. They're probably a bit out of spirits because of that. Suddenly, a shell hits close. Juutilainen's coffee mug spills on the table and the phone goes mute. JUUTILAINEN Hello, hello...? Well, merry Christmas to you too. Birdy, I think they got the phone line again! CUT TO: Häyhä, Malmi and some other soldiers are on the other end of Villa Bomba. Häyhä sits on his bed, Malmi is writing a letter using chair as a table. A small Christmas tree has been decorated with colorful papers and a Red Army star on the top.

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Courier comes in dressed in small red coat, carrying a large bag. COURIER Ho ho ho! Are there any good children here? SOLDIER Just give us our coals and go back to Korvatunturi! Soldiers laugh and the courier gives presents wrapped in brown paper. Soldiers open the presents, which contain wool socks, bread and other regular stuff. Then the courier takes out a luxurious red package. COURIER For Sergeant Häyhä. General Hägglunds wife sends his regards. The lady has read about your feats from a newspaper and wanted to send these. HÄYHÄ Thank you. SOLDIER Simo has a secret admirer! Häyhä opens the package. It contains soft, white gloves, with a small lion weaved on the right glove. Soldiers laugh heartily at the feminine gloves. SOLDIER Is that some kind of flower? MALMI I think it's a lion. Or it could be a sun. SOLDIER Maybe lady Hägglund knitted those herself! Häyhä puts on the gloves and waves his fingers, then tries his own shooting gloves on top of the white gloves and nods approvingly. HÄYHÄ Good gloves. The soldiers laugh and start to sing.

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Malmi turns back to his letter. Häyhä drinks coffee with his new gloves on. HÄYHÄ Writing home? MALMI Yeah, to my fiancé. I'll show you picture. Malmi takes photograph out of his pocket and show it to Häyhä. INSERT:

A BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO OF A YOUNG WOMAN MALMI This is my fiancé, Silvia. We're going to get married after the war. HÄYHÄ Congratulations.

A drunken soldier Virtanen leans on Malmi's shoulder. VIRTANEN Show that pretty girl to me! MALMI Do you have anyone waiting at home? HÄYHÄ Family. Virtanen points to a pin-up calendar hanging on the wall. VIRTANEN Now there's a bride for Simo! HÄYHÄ I already have one, I don't need a second one. Häyhä points to his rifle. Virtanen laughs and punches Malmi in the back. INT. VILLA BOMBA - NIGHT The soldiers are sleeping, Russian artillery has stopped the bombardment. Juutilainen is sleeping on his chair.

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Suddenly, cadet Vuorensola rushes in the dugout, covered in snow, panting heavily. Juutilainen wakes up and falls on his back on the floor. JUUTILAINEN Merde! Where's the fire now? VUORENSOLA Captain, commander Haartman sent me to check that you're okay here, since the phone lines went out... So, you are okay then? The half-sleeping soldiers throw boots at Vuorensola. EXT. KOLLAA HILL - NIGHT Flares are flying over the forest, Russian artillery is bombarding the hill again. Birdy, Uosikkinen and other soldiers are watching the flashes in trenches. Häyhä and Malmi return to the hill and take off their skis, Juutilainen walks out of the dugout holding a coffee mug. JUUTILAINEN Welcome back. How many confirmed tonight? MALMI Twenty nine. JUUTILAINEN A new record, quite handsome. UOSIKKINEN Simuna just keeps getting better. Birdy brings hot coffee to both Häyhä and Malmi. JUUTILAINEN I must say, the Russkies arranged dashing fireworks for this New Year's eve. Uosikkinen starts to jump up and down, stretching his legs. UOSIKKINEN It's an Olympic year coming.

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Really? UOSIKKINEN Yeah, the games were supposed to be in Tokyo, but then the war started, so they jumped over them and it's Finland's turn to organize the summer games. But if this war goes on... JUUTILAINEN Well, it's good training for you, Uosikkinen, you can run and jump all day long! UOSIKKINEN Except if I get a bullet in the head. JUUTILAINEN Yep, that might slow down a bit. SOLDIER ONE Good thing we got a peaceful new year, thanks to sergeant Häyhä shooting that ugly commissar. JUUTILAINEN Well, Stalin's not going to give up so easily, it's the Red Army's reputation on the line. UOSIKKINEN Simo, what are you going to do after the war? HÄYHÄ I'm thinking of getting a dog. JUUTILAINEN You're not asking much, are you? Hey Birdy, is it new year yet? BIRDY Ten minutes ago. INT. LENINGRAD - NIGHT Prime Minister Molotov stands in his office, looking at New Year's fireworks over the dark city.

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General Semyon Timoshenko stands in the room behind him. MOLOTOV Shtern left the battle to chase down one man? That damn fool. And the new commander Meretskov is a nitwit who can't get anything done. Stalin is displeased. Soviet Union looks weak in the eyes of the world. It's disgraceful. This war has become a burden that must be terminated immediately. Molotov walks to Timoshenko and grabs his shoulders. MOLOTOV Semyon, I want you to go there. Break their defenses. Take two tank divisions. Take everything you need and restore the honor of Mother Russia. I want Finland on its knees before the spring comes. As Stalin always says: quantity has a quality of its own. EXT. KOLLAA ROAD - DAY MONTAGE: Russian soldiers marching on the road, soldiers from different divisions, long lines of artillery and tanks. SUPER:

56TH DIVISION

SUPER:

75TH DIVISION

SUPER:

126TH DIVISION

SUPER:

164TH DIVISION

Tired Russian soldiers, one of them cadet Ivan, watch the new elite soldiers arriving. Then they see general Timoshenko's convoy and jump up to stand in line. Finnish spies watch the arrival of Timoshenko from their hiding place, and decide to pull back. MONTAGE ENDS

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EXT. RUSSIAN CAMP - DAY General Timoshenko stands on a tank and talks to the soldiers standing in line. TIMOSHENKO The Finns are alone and weak, their days are over! We will crush through by our unstoppable force on all fronts! Yuri, you will return home before your first child is born! We will end the war here and now! They have only scraps left on their reserves! These are orders from Father Stalin himself: we will crush the Finnish army! CUT TO: Russian soldiers preparing for the attack, opening ammo cases and loading up bullets. One of the tired soldiers, Jevgeni, loads up exploding bullets to his rifle. JEVGENI Again into that icy hell... One of the new soldiers sitting next to Jevgeni takes a tin box out of his pocket and offers white tablets, taking one himself. SOLDIER Comrade, take this. JEVGENI What is that? SOLDIER Natural medicine. It will make you feel better and more alert. JEVGENI Thanks, comrade. EXT. KOLLAA HILL CAMP - DAY Juutilainen walks around the camp with a walking stick, checking the defenses, giving orders to men who are digging and fortifying the line. Birdy follows him.

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JUUTILAINEN Did you got that truck going? Good, drive it in the middle of the road and put a mine or two under it... What's going on there? Clean those machine guns. Suddenly, they hear a cavalry signal horn. Carl von Haartman and nine cavalry men in white suits ride to the camp, with swords and two pistols on their belts. Haartman jumps down and Juutilainen greets him. JUUTILAINEN Commander Haartman. HAARTMAN Captain Juutilainen, looking better than ever! JUUTILAINEN You look like a damn peacock as always. HAARTMAN I heard there's some big trouble coming this way, so I thought I'll come here in person. JUUTILAINEN So, you were ordered to take the front line away from my hands? Haartman grins and shrugs. JUUTILAINEN That's what I thought. So, this is our cavalry then? Nine horsemen? HAARTMAN Correction: nine hackapelites. INT. VILLA BOMBA - DAY Juutilainen, Haartman, Birdy and other officers are looking at maps and reports on the table. Haartman shows general Timoshenko's photograph.

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HAARTMAN Prime minister Molotov has ordered Semyon Timoshenko as the new commander of the Eight Army. He's a member of the Central Committee and a war hero decorated by Stalin. The Revolutionaries called him the Great Butcher. JUUTILAINEN Well, well. Starting to get interesting. HAARTMAN Timoshenko's arrival can mean only one thing. They have four divisions gathering on the Kollaa line. One on the north side on Lake Kollaa, two on the center, and one on the south at Ulismaa. JUUTILAINEN Still trying to break through with brute force? Well, it's a good thing you brought some more men to too... They're not going to come through the road for sure, there's so much junk in line. They're going to use the swamps and lakes. HAARTMAN Timoshenko is as crooked as a corkscrew, he's definitely going to try something exotic. JUUTILAINEN Well, if we don't know how he sings, our band has to improvise. HAARTMAN How much ammunition we have? JUUTILAINEN Not much, but we'll stab them with knives if necessary. Haartman sighs and looks at Häyhä, who sits in the corner and checks his cartridges, one by one, with white gloves on. The table in front of him is full of cartridges in neat rows.

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EXT. KOLLAA AREA - DAY Colorful smoke spreads on the expanse and artillery fires shells to the Kollaa hill. Russian soldiers attack through the smoke. CUT TO: Häyhä scratches his mask, watching the attack from the hill. Soldiers start to come out of the smoke, Häyhä starts shooting first. More soldiers come forward, then a a whole wall of soldiers, side by side. Some of the soldiers don't have weapons, they just carry big Soviet flags. Finnish soldiers on the hill watch in amazement. SOLDIER Ooh shit... Häyhä picks up targets randomly from the tight row, shooting down a few before other Finnish rifles start to shoot, and machine guns after them. The Russians keep on marching straight to the fire. SOLDIER They're insane! Russian tanks and artillery tractors approach slowly through the destroyed forest, shooting the hill. Trees snap in half behind Häyhä. Häyhä rolls down the hill, sees a flame tank coming, loads armor piercers, and shoots four times. The flame tank explodes into a fireball and a soldier next to Häyhä screams. SOLDIER Yeehaaw! More explosions. Häyhä lands to a steep hill, does a somersault and drops straight down to a trench. He rises back up and sees Finnish soldiers running against tanks with petrol bombs and grenades. Häyhä shoots a couple of Russian soldiers from between the Finnish soldiers. CUT TO:

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One of the Russian attack waves disperses, but another one follows behind it. The scattered Russians run to trenches. One Finnish soldier throws a petrol bomb at Russian soldier and the burning Russian jumps on him. Another Finn takes the enemy in a wrestling hold and slices his throat with. One of the wounded Russian flag bearers pushes a Finnish soldier out of his way and strikes the flag down, but another Finn captures the flag and throws it on the burning Russian. The flag bearer takes a rifle from a dead soldier, but suddenly gets a bullet in his head. CUT TO: Juutilainen walks behind the Finnish line holding his pistol ready, his face black from soot. Birdy and signalman walk behind him, Birdy is shooting over the covering bank with a rifle. JUUTILAINEN Keep it up! In our neighborhood we killed more men in weddings! Juutilainen takes a light machine gun from a dead soldier, checks it and hands over to a rifleman. JUUTILAINEN Try with this one. More Finns run to the snow bank. One of them has a rye bread hanging from his mouth, pushes Juutilainen while running and curses while shooting. SOLDIER Perkele! Oh, sorry, captain! JUUTILAINEN Perkele is fine. Juutilainen takes a look over the snow bank, but there's too much smoke and snow falling to see much. SIGNALMAN We should retreat, there's too many of them.

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JUUTILAINEN Well, we did get orders to retreat from the headquarters. SIGNALMAN When? BIRDY A week ago. SIGNALMAN Captain, the Mannerheim line has broken! They have retreated to the T-line in Karelia! JUUTILAINEN They can retreat if they want, we're going to keep this mound. SIGNALMAN If this goes on, we're all going to die on this mound. JUUTILAINEN We're not here to die, we're here to kill. CUT TO: Snowstorm is rising, and Russians try to flank the Kollaa hill running through a narrow path on north. Häyhä is waiting behind rocks and shoots the Russians down as they approach. Russians with submachine guns appear on the south side and start shooting Häyhä. Häyhä runs back and jumps behind a boulder, avoiding a streak of bullets just in time. He rises, shoots two soldiers from behind the boulder, but sees ten more approaching. RUSSIAN OFFICER It's that white sniper! Kill him! Häyhä takes a deep breath and notices a Suomi KP submachine gun lying next to a dead Finnish soldier. He picks it up, checks the drum magazine, loads, rises from behind boulder the and shoots fast - ten Russian soldiers fall.

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More soldiers follow, but they take cover behind trees, and shoot the boulder with a machine gun. Häyhä crouches behind the boulder, picks up his rifle, takes a quick shot at the machine gunner, and the gunner gets a bullet to his shoulder. A Russian throws a grenade, Häyhä jumps behind a tree trunk and the explosion throws snow and dirt on him. Russians start a new attack. Disoriented Häyhä lifts the submachine gun and prepares for a final stand... Suddenly, Malmi and other soldiers run down the hill and start shooting. Häyhä is relieved, crouches and switches back to his rifle. The Russian troops fall back and Malmi's group keeps on shooting them. Häyhä shoots one of the last running soldiers in the back and then sits down on the snow, exhausted. Medics run out of the forest, one of them spots Häyhä and runs to him. MEDIC Over here! Sergeant is wounded! HÄYHÄ No, I'm fine. Take care of the rest. I just need more cartridges. Häyhä shakes dirt of his snow suit and medic helps him up. Häyhä walks back to the forest. CUT TO: Juutilainen's group is shooting Russians near the dugout. Courier runs to Juutilainen. COURIER Captain, the Russkies are breaking through from the south side! JUUTILAINEN Are they trying to take the hill? SOTILAS No, I think they're trying to surround us!

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JUUTILAINEN So that's his plan... I guess we run after them and shoot them in the back then! Birdy, tell Haartman that we're heading south! CUT TO: South of the hill, Russians are shooting at few Finns trying to stop them. Juutilainen's group apppears from behind them, Juutilainen is shooting with a light machine gun. The Russians turn to run back with bayonets, Juutilainen empties the machine gun and changes to revolver. The Russians keep on coming, and one of them starts to shoot Juutilainen, but suddenly he gets shot in the chest. Juutilainen glances at the hill, and sees Häyhä sliding down and stopping behind a tree trunk. The Russians see Häyhä too and start to shoot at him, but Juutilainen's group charges onward. JUUTILAINEN I'm your enemy, you connards! CUT TO: Haartman walks in a trench and cavalrymen are firing in a line. Suddenly, Haartman spots a wounded soldier KUUSISTO in a foxhole over the trench, jumps out of the trench and crawls to tourniquet his leg. HAARTMAN No reason to worry, you get wounds in a war. What's your name? KUUSISTO Private Kuusisto, sir. HAARTMAN Kuusisto, I'm going to take you back Suddenly, Haartman sees a grenade flying high in the air. He catches the grenade from the air and throw its back.

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HAARTMAN Stay on your own side! The grenade flies into the Russian foxhole and explodes. Unexpectedly, the Russian's rifle flies into the air spinning rapidly, and Haartman stares at the spinning rifle while it disappears in the rising snowstorm. HAARTMAN Oh, good, the weather is getting better. Haartman starts to drag Kuusisto back to the trench. EXT. RED HOUSE - DAY On the b.g. the Red House is in ruins. Russian artillery is firing and Finnish soldiers are in cover behind a snow bank in the forest. War-Ville is talking to Juutilainen on the phone. WAR-VILLE I can't send any more troops! The 56th division is trying to push through, we have our hands full over here! JUUTILAINEN (O.S.) Well, a dozen men should be enough. WAR-VILLE I can't transform into a dozen men, Juutilainen! Near the ruins of Red House, Private MAJEWSKI is running around with a submachine gun, shooting wildly and cursing in Swedish-Finnish. MAJEWSKI Sattan pärkkele! WAR-VILLE Majewski, get back to cover! Majewski turns around and runs back to forest.

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WAR-VILLE I'm surrounded by nutcases... Juutilainen, have you thought about retreating? EXT. KOLLAA HILLSIDE - DAY The Russians are trapped in motti, Finns are shooting from all sides. Juutilainen talks to a field phone. JUUTILAINEN We're not retreating anywhere in this shelling, fighting here is the least worst option. SIGNALMAN Captain, men from the 128th division are trying to break through to Korpijärvi base by going around Ulismaa. Jäger Battallion four is going to meet them, but they need more men. JUUTILAINEN Damn it, more trouble. Who am I going to send over there? Juutilainen sees Häyhä climbing back up the hill. JUUTILAINEN Simo! Come back down, I have a mission for you! Häyhä returns. JUUTILAINEN Are you still in good condition? HÄYHÄ I'm good, captain. JUUTILAINEN I'm going to put you in charge now. I know that's not your thing, but we don't have enough group leaders. Russkies are trying to break through Ulismaa and we don't have any artillery there. You'll take these men, group with Light Brigade 23 at Heinälampi, and stop the Russkies at Ulismaa.

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109. HÄYHÄ

Yes, sir. WAR-VILLE (O.S.) Juutilainen! Do you hear me? Shake the damn earpiece if it's frozen! JUUTILAINEN I hear you, lieutenant! I'm sending sergeant Häyhä to Ulismaa! CUT TO: Haartman stands in a snowstorm and speaks to his men. HAARTMAN Gentlemen, it's our turn now. Let's show those boys how hackapelites fight! Cavalrymen are ready on their horses, Haartman jumps on his own horse. CUT TO: Russian soldiers are trying to march against snow and wind, when they suddenly see large shadows and hear pistol shots. RUSSIAN SOLDIER What the hell are those? White-suited horses dash out of snowstorm, hackapelites are shooting with pistols and slashing with swords left and right. Haartman rides in front, holding a saber. HAARTMAN Cut them down! Hackapelites strike fast, ride through the Russian lines causing confusion, and then disappear in the snowstorm... INT. KOLLAA DUGOUT - NIGHT Finnish soldiers lie on heir beds wounded and exhausted, the battle goes on outside. Juutilainen is on the phone, talking to general Hägglund.

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HÄGGLUND (O.S.) What's the situation? JUUTILAINEN Not bad, we pulled through the day. HÄGGLUND (O.S.) We can get some more troops there tomorrow night, but until then you have to manage on your own. JUUTILAINEN I see. HÄGGLUND (O.S.) Juutilainen. Will Kollaa hold? Juutilainen takes a look around. Uosikkinen is lying on a table, medic is trying to stop the bleeding out of his stomach. JUUTILAINEN Uosikkinen, will Kollaa hold? Uosikkinen spits out blood and raises his fist. UOSIKKINEN Kollaa kestää! JUUTILAINEN (on the phone) Kollaa kestää. EXT. KOLLAA HILL - MORNING MONTAGE: Finnish soldiers are waiting in the trenches, Russians are gathering on the east. SUPER:

THE BATTLE OF THE KOLLAA HILL

The artillery is shelling the hill and Russian troops are rushing over the expanse again. SUPER:

FOUR THOUSAND RUSSIANS AGAINST 132 FINNS

Finns are firing with machine guns, throwing grenades and petrol bombs. SUPER:

WHEN THE BATTLE ENDED AT THE SUNDOWN

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Hackapelites ride towards Russians, the horses fall down, and they continue fighting on the ground. SUPER:

FIVE HUNDRED RUSSIANS RETREATED

Warm bodies are steaming in the battle field, the forest is burning, tanks are burning on a frozen river, some Russian soldiers are escaping. SUPER:

FOUR FINNS REMAINED IN THEIR POSITIONS

END MONTAGE Juutilainen sits on the edge of a trench with his face covered in blood, light machine gun on his lap, surrounded by bodies of Finns and Russians. Juutilainen takes of his fur hat and wipes his face. Birdy's dead body is lying next to him. Juutilainen takes a hip flask and takes a sip to clear his throat. JUUTILAINEN Everyone still alive, raise your hand! Juutilainen looks around and sees Haartman raising his sword from a pile of Russian bodies next to the trench, his white clothes covered in blood and dirt. HAARTMAN Hola, captain! One Finnish soldier further away waves his arm, but Juutilainen doesn't notice him. On the right, Juutilainen sees Ghoul leaning to his M26 machine gun. JUUTILAINEN For a moment I thought I was barking here all by myself. Ghoul tries to raise his hand and speak, but he's too tired to do either. JUUTILAINEN Yeah, yeah, you're alive too. Anyone else? Juutilainen stares at Birdy's body and puts his hat back on.

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EXT. ULISMAA - DAY On the frozen swamp, aerosanis are burning and bodies of Finnish and Russian soldiers are lying on the snow. SUPER:

ULISMAA MARCH 6. 1940

Häyhä and his team are fighting in a small forest on the east side of the swamp. Russians are shooting and running down a gradual slope towards the swamp. Häyhä stops between trees, crouches and starts shooting. Malmi and other men follow him. HÄYHÄ Forward! Häyhä moves, sees two Russian soldier setting up a machine gun and shoots them. On the other side, Finnish soldiers are falling down. Malmi stops behind Häyhä to load his rifle. MALMI There's just too much of them, we can't do this! More Russians appear from the forest, Finns are dying right and left. HÄYHÄ Retreat! Finns start to run back to the swamp, Häyhä and Malmi stay back and give covering fire before they run too. Two Russians are running towards them, shooting. Häyhä shoots the first soldier in the head, splattering blood to the other soldiers face. The other soldier wipes his face to his sleeve, Häyhä shoots him in the stomach. With his last breath, the soldier shoots... ...and Malmi gets hit in the wrist. Häyhä turns and sees Malmi lying on the ground, holding his arm. Häyhä runs back. HÄYHÄ We need to go.

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MALMI I'm okay, it's just my arm... Malmi's left wrist is bleeding. MALMI I stopped counting at forty... Russians come closer. Häyhä takes a grenade from Malmi's belt, throws it and helps Malmi up. HÄYHÄ Let's go. Häyhä and Malmi run back to the swamp. Finnish soldiers are on the other side, shouting them to hurry up and shooting the Russians behind them. Häyhä and Malmi run between burning aerosanis, and suddenly the other aerosani explodes. Häyhä trips. HÄYHÄ Go, go! Malmi keeps on running. Häyhä runs to the left side of aerosanis for cover, loading his rifle while running. Jevgeni is aiming at the Finns behind the aerosani and Häyhä runs straight in front of him. Their eyes meet. Jevgeni shoots instinctively and Häyhä gets an exloding bullet to his jaw, falling down on his back. Jevgeni lowers his rifle and stares at Häyhä in disbelief. JEVGENI I got him! I killed the White Death! I killed the White Death! Suddenly, Häyhä's right arm moves. He picks up his rifle with one hand and shoots Jevgeni in the stomach. Jevgeni stares at the hole in his stomach, looks at Häyhä through smoke, the sound of the battle fading... RUSSIAN POV: Häyhä stands up like a zombie, gray mask torn up, blood running down the left side of his face...

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Jegveni's eyes get blurry and he starts to hallucinate. He sees a ghastly figure three meters tall - a skull-faced reaper in white cloak, raising a white scythe. JEVGENI No, no, no, no, no! The scythe comes down and we see only white. CUT TO: The sound of the battle returns, and Häyhä is staggering towards the western side of swamp through smoke and explosions, bullets whistling by, bleeding, trying to hold his face in one piece with his left hand, rifle hanging from a strap. Häyhä stumbles on the snow, rises and keeps going. Finns run down to the tree line to shoot at the swamp. Häyhä falls down and rises again, leaning to his rifle. MALMI (O.S.) Simo! Simo! Malmi runs to Häyhä, followed by another soldier dragging ahkio. They help the disoriented Häyhä to ahkio and Häyhä finally loses his consciousness... EXT. TRUCK MOVING ON A ROAD - DAY Sharply, Häyhä wakes up lying on a back of a truck. Malmi is weeping in desperation while medic is trying to keep Häyhä's head still. Third soldier is tearing more bandages. Häyhä starts to struggle and tries to sit up. MALMI He's awake! Simo, Simo! Give him morphine! MEDIC Stay down, sergeant, don't try to sit up! The medic and the third soldier try to keep Häyhä on his back, but Häyhä sits up and coughs blood.

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MALMI Simo, stay alive! Can you hear me? MEDIC Hold him still! Sergeant, keep still, don't try to get up! Häyhä coughs blood again and Malmi suddenly realizes what's going on. MALMI Let him sit up, he's drowning in his own blood! The third soldier let's Simo sit up, medic keeps his hands on Häyhä's head. Häyhä is unconscious again. The third soldier leans back, exhausted. THIRD SOLDIER I think his battles have been fought. EXT. KOLLAA CAMP - NIGHT Juutilainen is standing in the camp, staring at piles of bodies in sledges. More trucks and soldiers are coming to the camp. Courier runs to Juutilainen. COURIER Captain! Captain! JUUTILAINEN What now? COURIER The attack at Ulismaa was stopped, but Sergeant Häyhä got shot in the head! JUUTILAINEN Badly? COURIER It was an exploding bullet, they said half of his head was missing. We don't know for sure yet, but someone said he probably died on his way to a hospital.

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116. JUUTILAINEN

Merde! Juutilainen sits down and throws his hat on the ground. Then he looks at the new soldiers coming, sighs, and picks up his hat. JUUTILAINEN Don't tell the men yet, I'll them later myself. EXT. LOIMOLA WAR HOSPITAL - NIGHT A truck is bringing bodies to the hospital yard and two soldiers start to carry the bodies inside the hospital using a trolley, while a nurse is left watching the truck. Suddenly, the nurse notices movement in the body pile. Häyhä raises his head, covered in bloody bandages, moves his legs, and then loses his consciousness again. The nurse screams and runs inside. NURSE Doctor, doctor! The doctor comes out with the nurse and the two soldiers, checks Häyhä's pulse and looks at his head. DOCTOR Take him to operating room one! Quickly! INT. WAR HOSPITAL SURGERY ROOM - NIGHT Three surgeons are operating on Häyhä. On the floor, a pile of bloody bandages. INT. WAR HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - MORNING Malmi sits on a corridor, his left hand in bandages. Other wounded men are walking by or sleeping on mattresses in the corridor. Nurse walks to Malmi. MALMI Is he alive?

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NURSE The bullet took half of his jaw, teeth and his cheek. He's in a deep coma, we can't be sure if he wakes up. MALMI But he's still alive? NURSE For now. MALMI If he wakes up, his face... NURSE The damage is severe, he needs multiple surgeries. The doctor suggested that we could take a piece of his hip bone and craft that into a new jaw, but he needs to be moved to another hospital for the operation. If he wakes up, that is... and there might be damage in his brains. I'm sorry. MALMI You do what you have to do. Malmi picks up Häyhä's rifle and walks away. INT. JYVÄSKYLÄ HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY Häyhä lies in a coma on a hospital bed, head covered in bandages. Sun is shining in from the window, the door to the room is open. Young, wounded soldier runs on the corridor, waving a newspaper and two nurses follow him. YOUNG SOLDIER The war is over! The war is over! The young soldier runs into the room, shouting and dancing. Other soldiers in the room are playing cards on a bed. PATIENT We heard you already! Nurses run in to stop the young soldier and wrestle the newspaper out of his hands.

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Suddenly, the patients playing cards start to shout. PATIENTS Häyhä is moving! Nurse, sergeant Häyhä is moving! The young soldier and nurses turn to look at Häyhä. Häyhä is touching his face with his right hand. CUT TO: The doctor is checking Häyhä's head and heart. Only Häyhä's eyes and part of the mouth are visible through the bandages. PATIENT I think the Russkies decided to pack their bags when they heard Simo is waking up! Young soldier reads the newspaper next to Häyhä's bed, and suddenly notices an obituary of Simo Häyhä. INSERT:

OBITUARY OF SIMO HÄYHÄ YOUNG SOLDIER Sergeant Simo Häyhä!

Häyhä, patients and doctor turn their heads. The young soldier shows the newspaper. YOUNG SOLDIER You're dead! Häyhä takes the newspaper. The young soldier and other patients have gathered around Häyhä's bed. PATIENT They don't know in Helsinki that you're alive! Häyhä puts the newspaper away, waves his fingers towards the table. The young soldier fetches him a pencil and some paper. Häyhä starts to write. EXT. SMALL FARM IN PIEN-MIETTILÄ - DAY Häyhä's sister KATRI runs from the mailbox towards the farmhouse, shouting and waving a letter. Häyhä's mother and brother Matti are standing on the front door.

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KATRI He's alive! A letter from Simo, he's in Jyväskylä! KATRIINA Oh my goodness, that boy makes me worry sometimes... MATTI What's he writing? KATRI 'Dear family. Stop the funeral, the corpse is missing. I'm in Jyväskylä. Regards, Simo.' MATTI That's Simo alright. KATRIINA Oh that poor boy... INT. HOTEL SORTAVALA - DAY Tired soldiers walk in the hallways, front doors are open and old guns are dragged back from the front line. Juutilainen sits in the hotel lobby in his rocking chair, leg in bandages, wearing his worn out fur coat and hat. Malmi rushes to the lobby. MALMI Captain, Simo is alive! JUUTILAINEN What? MALMI I just got a call, Simo came back to life and he was moved to veteran hospital at Jyväskylä! JUUTILAINEN Merde! He should make up his mind if he's dead or not! Haartman comes from the restaurant side, stirring up a cup of coffee with a spoon.

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HAARTMAN What's the ruckus now, Juutilainen? The war is over, you know. MALMI Commander, sergeant Häyhä is still alive. He's in a hospital in Jyväskylä. HAARTMAN Really? Well, there's certainly life in that man. Handsome news, that's what the men need right now. JUUTILAINEN They sure as hell don't need to see your smug face, Haartman. HAARTMAN Cheer up, captain. We'll find you another war eventually. The bear took a mighty bite, but our hearts are still beating. Haartman whistles while he goes back to restaurant. Juutilainen throws his hat away and rises up. MALMI Captain? JUUTILAINEN Call a car, I'm going to Jyväskylä for a visit. INT. JYVÄSKYLÄ VETERAN HOSPITAL - DAY Juutilainen and Malmi walk in a hospital corridor, glancing into rooms full of wounded soldiers, sobbing in their beds or playing cards. A nurse walks by. NURSE Excuse me, are you looking for someone? JUUTILAINEN I was told sergeant Simo Häyhä is here somewhere. NURSE Oh, he is at the backyard.

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EXT. HOSPITAL BACKYARD - DAY A small garden, still covered in snow. Häyhä sits on a wheelchair near a wooden bench, his cheek in heavy bandages. On the bench, there's a mug with a drinking straw. On a dartboard, there's four darts and Häyhä's fifth dart flies near the center. Juutilainen and Malmi walk to the garden and sits on the bench. JUUTILAINEN I guess you couldn't listen the crying of grown men. Häyhä nods. JUUTILAINEN How does it feel to come back from the dead? The newspapers tried to bury you alive. HÄYHÄ (whisperingly) Don't believe everything you read. Häyhä coughs after speaking. Malmi gives the mug and Häyhä drinks with the straw. JUUTILAINEN Did you hear that the Russkies put a bounty on your head in the war? Juutilainen takes a paper out of his pocket and gives to Häyhä. It's a drawing of a menacing white-suited soldier with a grinning mask. JUUTILAINEN Fifty thousand rubles. Your scalp is quite valuable, but I guess that's the price of being famous. Might be a stroke of luck that you got a new face. Now Russian spies can't recognize you so well, even if they have a picture of your face. Juutilainen laughs, rises and collect the darts off the board with his left hand and gives them to Häyhä.

"White Death" JUUTILAINEN You've killed more Russkies than there's people in my home village. Right, Malmi? MALMI Over five hundred confirmed. Might be a world record. JUUTILAINEN Malmi here got promoted to a corporal while you we're sleeping. I suggested a Cross of Liberty for you, but you know the hurries of the aristocrats. Häyhä nods and throws darts again. MALMI It's a shame we had to give Karelia away. Häyhä holds the last dart. JUUTILAINEN Yeah, but Finland still belongs to us, not to Stalin, so I'd count this as a victory. Well, we need to get going, stay healthy! Juutilainen leaves, but Malmi stays. MALMI I wanted to apologize for being a burden to you. It was my fault HÄYHÄ (whisperingly) No. You did your best. Followed orders. MALMI Thank you, sergeant. Suddenly, Juutilainen rushes back. JUUTILAINEN Oh, I almost forgot! We'll be seeing you at Helsinki. Uncle Mannerheim is going to promote you straight to second lieutenant.

122.

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Häyhä throws the last dart over the dartboard and through a window. We hear a scream inside. EXT. HELSINKI - DAY Military parade marches on the Senate Square, people are watching on the edges, waving Finnish flags. Häyhä stands in line with other soldiers, while Mannerheim hands out medals. Juutilainen and his brother Ilmari are standing together and photographers are taking pictures of them. Juutilainen looks annoyed while Ilmari waves his hand smiling. Mannerheim reaches Häyhä in the line, hunches over to put a Kollaa Cross on Häyhä's neck, and shakes his hand... the same way Haartman awarded Häyhä in his first shooting competition. Häyhä's family is among the spectators, watching the ceremony. KATRIINA Tsk, Simo has the bars in wrong order again. MATTI I don't think there's a man big enough to correct him about that. Malmi is standing in a another line and waves to his wife, who is watching in the audience and waving a small Finnish flag. Malmi notices Häyhä and greets him with his bandaged hand. Häyhä raises his hand and scratches his cheek. CUT TO: EXT. HELSINKI STREET - DAY Malmi walks back home with his wife, watching the sky above half-destroyed buildings. MONTAGE:

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MALMI (V.O.) It was the last time I saw Simo eye to eye. When the Continuation War started a year later, I was back on the front line. Simo wanted to join too, but he wasn't accepted because of his wound. He became a horse collector for the army. Häyhä brings horses out of stable and pats them calmingly. MALMI (V.O.) After the Second World War, the government gave Simo his own farm, twenty hectares near the border. I heard he lived alone, hunting moose and raising hunting dogs. I saw him in the news two times. First time was when a new sniper competition was named after him. Black and white newsreel, where Häyhä greets competitors standing in a line and shows his skills by shooting down small targets. MALMI (V.O.) The second time was when he went hunting with president Urho Kekkonen. Newsreel from the seventies, where URHO KEKKONEN and Häyhä are standing next to a moose carcass in full hunting gear. Photographers are taking pictures. Häyhä smiles uneasily when Kekkonen shakes hands with him. MALMI (V.O.) After that, it was quiet for a long time. I heard that captain Juutilainen died, and I was afraid Häyhä might be dead too. My own memories from the war started to fade, and sometimes I thought: was he really there? His skills were so extraordinary, so far away from everyone, he was so clear and quiet like a falling snow. Did it all really happen? Did all those people really die? We see flashes of Häyhä in the war: walking, smiling, shooting, drinking coffee with Malmi...

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MALMI (V.O.) Then, in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, I happened to meet Ghoul and heard from him that Simo was still alive and well at Ruokolahti. He told me that Simo was quite pleased with the fact that he had lived longer than the Soviet Union. I couldn't help but smile. Malmi sits in a cafe in Helsinki with Ghoul, both are old men now. Malmi smiles and looks out of the window. MALMI (V.O.) One morning in the war, I saw him standing on a mound when the sun rose, staring at the tree line with his mask on and his rifle ready, like Cerberus guarding the gates of Hell. Winter 1940. Häyhä stands on a snow mound, sun rises over a frozen forest. Sounds of artillery can be heard far away. MALMI (V.O.) I can still see him there, standing on that hill, looking towards east, always prepared, guarding his lands. That's what he was told to do. That's what he does. That's what he is. We approach the hill slowly, winter starts to turn into summer, Häyhä ages and his clothes change... It's 1990's now, and Häyhä is standing at his farm as an old man, still holding a rifle, watching the tree line with a hunting dog next to him. CUT TO BLACK: SUPER: FINLAND HAD TO MAKE LARGE TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS TO SOVIET UNION, BUT STALIN FAILED TO MEET HIS MAIN OBJECTIVE OF TOTAL CONQUEST OF FINLAND FINLAND GAVE A DECLARATION: IF SOVIET UNION TRIES TO INVADE FINLAND AGAIN, FINNS WILL FIGHT TO THE LAST MAN

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THEIR EXPERIENCES IN THE WINTER WAR MADE THE SOVIETS TAKE THE DECLARATION SERIOUSLY "WE CAPTURED JUST ENOUGH LAND TO BURY OUR DEAD" RUSSIAN GENERAL EXT. SALPA LINE, WINTER WAR MUSEUM - DAY We see fortified bunkers and rock barriers under moss in the forest, birds are singing. SUPER:

SALPA LINE, FINLAND, SUMMER 2000

A bus full of American gun collectors stops at the yard of a Winter War Museum. SUPER:

60 YEARS AFTER THE WAR

Gun collectors come out of the bus and walk in to the museum. They are wearing T-shirts with a text: MOSINNAGANT ASSOCIATION USA. GUN COLLECTOR ONE When I heard that he's still alive, I almost shit my pants. I've only read about him in history books and now I'm here to really meet him. GUN COLLECTOR TWO I can't believe he's going to come here today! INT. WINTER WAR MUSEUM - DAY The gun collectors walk around the museum taking pictures of guns and memorabilia on display. The Finnish guide tells about Häyhä's rifle, hanging on wall, and his uniform is inside a glass. The gun collectors sit down for a coffee break at the museum café. Suddenly, a car turns to the yard, and everyone turn to look out of the window. GUN COLLECTOR TWO Is that him?

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EXT. WINTER WAR MUSEUM YARD - DAY Black car with a small lion flag in the front stops in front of the museum. A young nurse helps Simo Häyhä, 96 years old, out of the car. Häyhä walks with crutches and wears glasses. INT. WINTER WAR MUSEUM - DAY The gun collectors rise up, when Häyhä comes in and sits on the bench. Häyhä looks at the collectors and their T-shirts. GUN COLLECTOR THREE (whispering) It's really him... The president of the gun collector association makes a little speech. PRESIDENT We would like to offer our sincerest thanks for taking time to talk to us about your experiences in the Winter War... Museum guide translates the speech to Häyhä. Häyhä talks to the guide in whispering voice. MUSEUM GUIDE Mr. Häyhä says he's surprised that you have come such a long way just to see him. He would also like to ask, how many of you own a MosinNagant rifle? All hands go up. Everyone laugh. CUT TO: Häyhä writes autographs to books and talks with the collectors, guide working as a translator. GUN COLLECTOR THREE How did you became so good? Häyhä answers to the guide in one word. MUSEUM GUIDE Practice.

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GUN COLLECTOR FOUR Do you ever regret killing so many people? The guide asks, Häyhä answers. MUSEUM GUIDE I just did what I was told to as well as I could. CUT TO: EXT. WINTER WAR MUSEUM - DAY Photographs are taken on the museum porch. The guide gives Häyhä his old rifle back for the photo and the nurse takes a picture of everyone. Häyhä starts to check his rifle out of habit and sees a bird flying in the trees nearby. His hand squeezes the rifle for a moment, but then the museum guide comes to get he rifle back. INT. GUN COLLECTOR'S BUS, MOVING - DAY The gun collectors sit on a bus, leaving the Salpa Line behind. GUN COLLECTOR ONE We actually met him. Did we? GUN COLLECTOR TWO Yeah. Somehow it feels like a dream. Did we really meet him? GUN COLLECTOR ONE You know, thirty years from now people want to interview us about this meeting. And they'll have a hard time believing that it really happened. INT. APARTMENT IN MOSCOW - DAY Russian soldier Ivan, now an old man, sits on a rocking chair and reads a newspaper. SUPER:

MOSCOW, APRIL 2002

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He turns the page and sees a small story about Simo Häyhä's death. In the picture, Simo Häyhä stands in his uniform, looking solemnly at the camera. Ivan's hand starts to shake, he drops the newspaper and touches his left cheek, where we can still see a scar made by Häyhäs bullet. CUT TO BLACK CREDITS THE END