Runtime:
84 minutes
Directed
by: Jalmari Helander
Starring:
Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Tommi Korpela, Per Christian Ellefsen
From:
Cinet
Here
is something I've had in my collection for awhile but have never
watched... until now. What a better time to do it than on Christmas
Eve, given that this Finnish tale is a rather bizarre tale where on
Christmas Eve, a boy and his reindeer-herding father deal with the
ramifications of a group of English-speaking men searching and
finding the corpse of Santa Claus, who is actually evil! See what I
mean about this being bizarre? And I don't think I need to say that the corpse doesn't stay a corpse for long...
I
pretty much already told you what the plot was. It takes place in
Finland and I don't want to give too much away but it is centered
around a young kid and his rough and tumble dad; he's a single parent
too, so you can figure out what the dynamic is then. The kid hangs
out with an older boy who is also the son of a reindeer-herder. The
characters act like what you'd expect and none of them you hate, even
the gruff and sometimes rude parental figures. I don't want to reveal
much more as a lot of fun is finding out what's next, as there are
various surprises along the way and I'll leave it at that. It wasn't what I was expecting going in, which is both good and bad for various reasons. There is rather dark humor throughout, too.
Besides
the strange story and the performances, there is also the pretty
scenery. It is set in a rural village in Finland and it's a very
pretty area, with plenty of snow-covered trees, snow-covered
mountains, and well, snow-covered just about everything. It sets the
mood and almost makes you feel cold, literally.
If
you want to see a one of a kind movie about Jolly Old Saint Nick that
is unlike anything you've come across before, then check this out. I
wouldn't say it's great as I've heard from some places, as some parts
I can carp about, but it's still good and I can see why it's already
become a cult hit.
I'll
be back Thursday night. I hope everyone has a nice holiday season.
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