The Christmas story, Joulutarina, is a heartwarming story of the Finnish Santa Claus. Heartwarming maybe to Finns, though not to many who prefer the red American Santa Claus.
I had to see this a few times before it settled in. It's not a master piece, but what made me grade it as high as I did, beside the main plot and a few good Finnish actors, was the beautiful, beautiful landscape. Very nice to watch. Lapland in cold winter.
A few minus points: the sun is not that high as shown in the film during Christmas, actually the sun doesn't shine much at all in Lapland during December.
Part of the scenes and sets were a bit cheesy, for example going down in the woodshed for the first time. The candles were blazing when Nikolaus and Iisakki went down for the first time, though it is assumable that no-one had been down there yet that day. Who knows.
One particular factor that really bugged me was the use of language throughout the whole film - modern Finnish was used, with some slangy words and sayings of this time. They absolutely did not fit in along.
Antti Tuisku. Nononono. Absolutely fake.
All in all, though, a nifty package.
I had to see this a few times before it settled in. It's not a master piece, but what made me grade it as high as I did, beside the main plot and a few good Finnish actors, was the beautiful, beautiful landscape. Very nice to watch. Lapland in cold winter.
A few minus points: the sun is not that high as shown in the film during Christmas, actually the sun doesn't shine much at all in Lapland during December.
Part of the scenes and sets were a bit cheesy, for example going down in the woodshed for the first time. The candles were blazing when Nikolaus and Iisakki went down for the first time, though it is assumable that no-one had been down there yet that day. Who knows.
One particular factor that really bugged me was the use of language throughout the whole film - modern Finnish was used, with some slangy words and sayings of this time. They absolutely did not fit in along.
Antti Tuisku. Nononono. Absolutely fake.
All in all, though, a nifty package.