Joulutarina

I love holiday films. I also love good fairy tales (and I don't mean "good" to mean "cleaned up and sanitized for our protection"). So, when a good fairy tale and holiday film get together and give birth to a wonderful film, I'm very happy. The film isn't "pleasant," but it has a lot of heart-warming sequences. It's not "fun," but it does help to anchor the fact that all situations have more than one side to be told. It has some humour (at least, in the English dubbed version), and the voice acting was very good. The scenery was beautiful. As somebody else said, it's not good for children under 10 to watch, unless a parent or older friend/relative are watching it too, who can answer what or why things happened.

I watched the film, cried a lot, smiled a good deal, and sighed with contentment at the end. Definitely a film to watch with a cup of cocoa and a disinclination to go out, afterwards.

Let's assume that even Santa Claus was born some day in the past. That he was a small boy that grew up to be the mythical figure of legends and bedtime stories. What would he have been like, as a boy, as a man starting the Christmas tradition of giving gifts, as an old, bearded man driving reindeer sled? Well, if that has aroused your interest, then this is the movie for you.

Filmed mainly in Finnish Lapland, it's a beautiful film to behold. The rural, medieval fishing village offers a breathtaking setting for young Nikolas' beginnings and the bleak winter grandeur of Lapland practically screams Christmas at you. The music is also the very best Finland has to offer and as a whole you can find no fault in the production values or the technical aspects.

The acting is also topnotch. I especially love Kari Väänänen as Iisakki, the aging carpenter who takes Nikolas under his wing and makes him the toymaker the world knows him as. Such a perfect blend of curmudgeon and grumpy warmheartedness. The rest of the actors are equally talented and they really sell the whole premise.

With the sole exception of Hannu-Pekka Björkman, playing the role of adult Nikolas, that of Santa Claus. He's a good actor, don't get me wrong, and it's really the script's fault instead of his, but his take on Santa Claus is way over the top. And yes, it's a more realistic take on Santa's origins, but did they really need to make him so unhinged. The only reason this Santa wasn't locked in a looney bin was that they hadn't been invented yet. And no, that doesn't ruin the film and it's really just a pet peeve of mine, but I prefer my Santas to be a lot more dignified than this.

As a whole Christmas Story has potential to become a classic. It practically is one already in Finland where it is shown every Christmas Eve as the main movie of the night. That's how good it is.

Amazing scenery, beautiful music and of course our "Nikolas", who became something we all want to be. In northern Finland we do not need false snow, not to mention the degrees below zero :o) Kari Väänänen made a very good role as "Iisakki", the carpenter. After all he was just a lonely man and much more kind as his character first appeared. Also Hannu-Pekka Björkman was as lovable and as cuddly as "Nikolas" can be. I think, the way "Nikolas" remembered his younger sister Aada during his life was also very touchable. We remember, we care and most of all, we can learn from the things we do and which are done to us. This is to me a film which I think will become a tradition for every Christmas. And you know, I'm only 40 years "young". Have a joyful sleigh ride!

This movie has a lot more depth than most Santa movies from the big US of A. This becomes a major commercial problem for the movie since many people like to see shallow movies that are "heart warming" even though it smells fake long way, and prefer to place their dollars in such movies instead. This is not the issue with Joulutarina. The movie has dark sides, let's face it all tales have dark sides, the matter is if you present them or not. This is a REAL movie. Heartwarming, beautiful scenery and good acting.

If you want to see the real thing - go watch this movie.

By the way, the kids (8 and 12) absolutely ADORED it. I've lost count on how many times they have seen this already.

SEE IT!

I actually got to see this movie for the first time in Rome, Italy this past October during a film festival. Before that, I had never heard of this movie, let alone that they were dubbing a version in English. I got to meet the director who was very nice. He talked about all the things that a beginning filmmaker should never do, including working in bad weather, working with children, special effects, and animals, all of which were done for this movie. Shot on location in the dead of winter, with real reindeer, this is a pretty impressive piece of work. It's also a great movie to add to the collection of other Christmas films. I can't predict whether it will become a Christmas classic, but I can say that I liked the back story given to Santa Claus in this movie.