Kautokeino-opprøret

"Kautokeino Rebellion" is a film that attempts to dramatize the historical events of the 1852 uprising in Norway. While the movie is visually stunning and features strong performances, it falls short in its portrayal of the actual events and characters involved.

The film presents a simplified and romanticized version of the rebellion, which can be misleading for viewers unfamiliar with the true history. The characters depicted as heroes in the movie were, in reality, deeply religious individuals whose actions were driven by their fanatic beliefs. This aspect is glossed over in the film, which instead focuses on a more palatable narrative of oppressed people rising against their oppressors.

The historical inaccuracies in "Kautokeino Rebellion" are significant. The film fails to capture the complexity of the socio-political and religious dynamics of the time. The rebellion was not a straightforward fight for justice but was influenced by intense religious fervor and conflicts within the community. By omitting these details, the film does a disservice to the true story and the people involved.

I am a relative to one of the main characters, Aslak Hætta, and it is interesting to see how he and the rest of the rebellions are depicted. The true story is far from the movie and I am a bit ashamed how positive the rebellions are described in the movie. The truth is that the rebellions belonged to a religious movement and were more or less crazy. Ruth, Bucht and Stockfleth was in real life decent people. Hæetta (my relative), Somby and the rest of the rebellions was in real life religious fanatics. I'm not very proud of being a relative to a religious fanatic who eventually became a murderer, but I still think that the story should somehow be a tad more truthful. The story is a complete falsification of a true event. It could have been a good movie showing how religious fanatics clashed with the society, but became a historical falsification instead.

In conclusion, while "Kautokeino Rebellion" is an engaging film with high production values, it should not be taken as a factual account of the events it portrays. Viewers interested in the true history of the Kautokeino uprising would do well to seek out more accurate sources to understand the full context and the real motivations behind the rebellion.

I saw this last month at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival and myself, being a Swede, it's nice to see a feature film centered on the indigenous Scandanavian peoples, the Sami who have populated the regions near the Artcic Circle of the countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian peninsula and live off their vast reindeer herds for food, clothing and trade. Set in 1852 this is based on a true story of an uprising against the authorities in the Sami territory of Norway. A story that has inspired numerous novels and non-fiction books over the years. Elen Skom (Anni-Kristina Jusso) is the film's protagonist who tells her story as the determined and strong willed wife of Mathis (Asle Mathis Gaup) who has become an alcoholic and is in debt to the the local merchant supply and tavern owner, the villainous Carl Ruth ((Mikael Persbrandt). Elen and Mathis have a young boy called Little Aslak named after Mathis brother Aslak. Mathis best friend is Mons (Nils Peder Gaup) and Mathis, Mons and Aslak will become the central characters in leading the revolt against Ruth and his sadistic henchman-turned sheriff Bucht and the newly installed preacher Stockflest who is in Ruth's pocket. Laestadius (noted Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist in a small role)had been the preacher of Kautokeino and his methods were bringing about an end to the rampant drinking and the end of Ruth's business. Ruth pulled strings and brought in a new preacher but the congregation wouldn't attend his services and conducted their own. They also stopped buying their merchant supplies from Ruth and made arrangements with a merchant in nearby Karesando for their supplies. Directed by writer/director Nils Gaup from his story co-written with Nils Isak Eira, the story is close to Gaup's heart as he is a descendant from one who participated in the rebellion over 150 years ago. It's a good story with beautiful winter scape cinematography from Phillip Ogaard and production design from Karl Juliusson. It has an epic feel to it without actually being an epic film. I would give this an 8.0 out of 10 and recommend it.

In 1852, Sami reindeer herders in the Arctic region of Norway were fed up with the Norwegian liquor industry exploiting their tendency to alcoholism, local government officials seizing parts of their herds, and a corrupt state church ignoring it all. They rioted, beating the local priest and killing a merchant and government official. The two men considered ringleaders, Aslak Haetta and Mons Somby, were tried and executed. This incidence is little-known in most of Europe, but in the history of the Sami people it is one of the few tales of resistance to pressure from their southern neighbors and has gained a sort of epic status. Nils Gaups' 2008 film KAUTOKEINO-OPPRORET (The Kautokeino Uprising) depicts this event. The main character of the film is Ellen Aslaksdatter Skum, who with her husband Mathis Haetta, was sentenced to long imprisonment. Ellen is played by Anni-Kristiina Juuso, a Sami actress best known for her role in Aleksandr Rogozhkin's 2001 film KUKUSHKA. The film is multilingual, with the Sami speaking their own language, Swedish used as a lingua franca, and Norwegian heard from a few outsiders. Mid-19th century Norway is depicted in absorbing detail, and watching the film I felt to some degree that I was sharing the challenges of the characters in the frozen north.

The film takes a few liberties with history (the whipping of the priest isn't portrayed, and the rioters are stopped by what seem to be Norwegians instead of their own other Sami neighbors. Still, it's generally factual and really inspires the viewer to go out and learn more about the event. What I really admire about the film is that it doesn't try to portray the murderers as bold defenders of national consciousness: their uprising was something of an act of blind rage and they were betraying their own Christian ideals. Other depictions of the riots, such as Launis' godawful opera "Aslak Hetta", give in to hyperbolic National Romantic feelings, but Gaups' film keeps it on the level.

I'm not a critic and I do not write reviews to be 'helpful' for others. "It's important that I'm sayin' the right sayin'. It's less important that you hear." Words taken from the character "Nell" in "Idioglossia", a stage play that later was adapted by Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster, as producer and as actress.

So here are some glimpses, I hope they will be not very 'off topic' Addiction, social rules, the Word of the Lord and the ones who have to decide either to deliver it as a gift or to promulgate it as a verdict, the different quadrants of law and emotions - this film deals with a lot of things that often seem to be mostly clarified in our world. I think they aren't. So this movie is not only a view to history.

I was very surprised by the bishop. A tall, beautiful, young man, Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau. I would give an extra star for casting him.

When there is a border in a nation, when two or more ethnicities live there then life seems to become more demure, rough, brittle. Anni-Kristiina Juuso (Elen Skum) had played Anni in "Kukushka" some years ago, a movie that shows how difference makes us rich and gives power and health. But for this we need to have individual contact. We're simply lost without this.

I'm an European, I've been to Sápmi and to Kosovo. I can feel how fragile we are. I'm happy that there is peace in the north, and share this world with the Sami people who live in four countries.

At the end you can hear Mari Boine: "And so the spring river opened up again / And so we let ourselves drift with the flood..." Have I went too far away from the movie?

What a great film! A simple story told in a powerful way. This IS what a film suppose to do. I don't know much about the Lapp/Sami people or their struggles in the past(I regret that) but you can substitute any ethnic/minority group and get a feel of the injustice that's being portrayed. Violence is almost always the product of social injustice. This is a universal stuggle between oppressed and opressor; be it a church, a state or corporation. Greed is a fire that burns all, at the end. Ars Gratia Artis "Art for the sake of Art" seems to be the motto of most films nowadays. Not this one. No offense to the artists involved in telling this story. Recommended. 10/10