The full name of this Finnish tale (English captions) is "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale," and it's about Pietari, a little Lapp boy living with his widowed father in an isolated settlement up near the Russian border. His father depends on reindeer for their livelihood but their way of life is disrupted when, just across the border, a construction company sets up and begins dismantling a nearby mountain. This activity disrupts the local balance and their entire reindeer herd is soon found dead. This is a crucial event and spells disaster for father and son.
We watch as our little guy gossips with a chum about "the REAL Santa Claus, not the Coca Cola one we believe in. Our parents have lied to us!" He launches a major investigation about this mythical Santa and discovers that, according to Lapland lore, naughty children are stolen on Christmas Eve and never come back!
Now he's really concerned, particularly on Christmas Eve when his school chums start disappearing.... and he discovers that the construction across the border is really an architectural dig... and his father doesn't believe any of his theories... and he's supposed to go to bed early...
This R-rated 2010 fable is certainly a new approach to the Christmas legend! We don't know any of the actors, so we completely buy into this unearthly story. Just wait until you discover what's in those crates being exported!
Written and directed by Jalmari Helander, this little tale, by turn both spooky and funny, provides an interesting view of life on the edge. The award-winning cinematography by Mika Orasmaa brings breathtaking scenes of the great northern wilds. (I love it when JayFlix folks recommend films I would otherwise never hear about!)
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See for yourself:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi192256281/
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See for yourself:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi192256281/
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