Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

A Christmas film set in northern Finland. An American company is excavating on Korvatunturi mountain. They will not say what they are looking for. There are a few reindeer-herding families in the village nearby, and once the digging starts the herd begins dying strangely. Pietari is a small boy. He has read something in old books: what people are told about Father Christmas today is not the truth. The real thing is something else, and it is under that mountain. His father and the neighbours see the matter economically; Pietari is the only one who understands what is happening. The idea is to invert the Christmas myth. The narrative builds it not as a fable but as a hard rural story: snow, a slaughterhouse, wire fences and adults who say little. The register is dark, but the film does not proceed like horror; it is closer to a strange adventure. Onni Tommila is in the cast with Jorma Tommila as his father; the two are father and son in life. Jalmari Helander directed. The film was developed from two short films he had made earlier. An original production for anyone who likes unconventional genre films and black humour. For a viewer expecting a family film, this is not for children and some scenes are hard.