Halloween Viewing List#4: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

 

#4: Rare Exports, A Christmas Tale (2010):

Directed by Jalmari Helander, Strange Exports is a charming Christmas story of a young Finnish boy who learns about the sinister tradition behind Santa Claus, that has long been buried until now...

 Pietari lives with his father, a reindeer hunter, in northern Finland, butchering and packing their own meet during the long dark nights, when things start to go awry. The reindeer hunters wake one day to find that ever single animal has been slaughtered on the hillside, by an unknown creature. 
Children begin to disappear from the snowy secluded town , and Pietari sets out to stop Santa before Christmas Eve when he will kill again.

 
 There is a legend that centuries ago the citizens were threatened by horned monsters. They were able to trick them onto the lake, where they froze. One of them was cut out inside a giant block of ice and buried deep beneath the mound. And now foreign excavators from America have come to dig up the past that would have been better left buried...

This is a wonderfully made, visually awesome, endearing, cute and funny film that is well worth the watch. A lot of thought has been put into the development of the characters and their relationships, it's a beautiful piece of work, and it's fun to listen to the Finnish language.  It's a clever parody of the myth of Santa intertwined with Norse mythology, as well as consumerism in general. Enjoy! ^_^