Christmas Story

2007 ""

Christmas Story

7 | 1h23m | en | Fantasy

Hundreds of years ago in Lapland, a little boy named Nikolas loses his family in an accident. The villagers decide to look after the orphaned boy together. Once a year - at Christmas - Nikolas moves to a new home. To show his gratitude, Nikolas decides to make toys for the children of the families as good-bye presents. Over the years, Nikolas's former adoptive families become many, and soon almost every house has presents on its doorstep on Christmas morning. At thirteen, Nikolas is sent to live and work with Iisakki, a grumpy old carpenter, who forbids Nikolas to continue making presents for Christmas. Gradually, however, Nikolas wins Iisakki's trust. Together they begin to look after the Christmas traditional that Nikolas has begun. When the aged Iisakki has to leave Nikolas and move away, the tradition of Christmas presents is once again at risk. Thankfully, Nikolas comes up with a solution that brings children joy every Christmas, even continuing to today.

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7 | 1h23m | en | Fantasy , Family | More Info

Released: November. 16,2007 | Released Producted By: Snapper Films , Country: Finland Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: http://snapperfilms.com/project/joulutarina/

Synopsis

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Cast

Hannu-Pekka Björkman , Otto Gustavsson , Jonas Rinne

Director

Okku Rahikainen

Producted By

Snapper Films ,

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Trailers & Images

Cast

Hannu-Pekka Björkman

as Nikolas

Resistant Hospital - Daughter's Mother Vinski and the Invisibility Powder Sisäilmaa The Renovation Somebody Should Do Something Aurora Shadow Lines Land of Hope

Otto Gustavsson

as Nikolas 13-vuotiaana

Christmas Story

Jonas Rinne

as Nikolas 7-vuotiaana

Christmas Story

Reviews

J. This movie is excellent. All the actors are great and clearly know what they're doing, even the kids, and the scenes, mostly shot in Lapland, look very great. And the dialogue, while not the best imaginable, is quite decent. I can't believe I hadn't seen this great film before! So the movie begins with young Nikolas (later Santa), whose parents and little sister Aada die in an accident quite predictable but still sad. Since his parents died, the six families in the village decide to take care of him, each for a year, until after six years a famine strikes and they can't take care of an extra mouth anymore. So this lonely and grumpy carpenter called Iisakki takes Nikolas and, after at first being very rude towards him, raises him as his own son. Each Christmas, they together give gifts to the children in the village, and thus a tradition has begun...This movie is, as I already told, very good, and I'm sure this will some day become a classic.

Anssi Vartiainen 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.

snobahr 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.

Olli Kuitunen This film is one mixed bag. Technically it couldn't be any better. The cinematography by Mika Orasmaa is masterful and the soundtrack by Leri Leskinen does not fall short of the visuals. The Lappish scenery is magnificent and the movie props and costumes create a remarkably romantic and fairy tale-like atmosphere without losing a sense of reality. I was captivated by the execution of the film.That being said, the acting is highly inconsistent - at best great (Kari Väänänen) and at worst performed by a former Finnish idols runner-up, Antti Tuisku (you can't make that up). This may or may not be a problem with the dubbed English version, but it sure as hell stands out like a sore thumb in the Finnish-spoken original here and there. The dialogue, it must be said, at times makes George Lucas seem like a pretty decent screenwriter.As for the story, it may not be for everyone. There are scenes that border the questionable for a children's' movie about Santa, although certainly none of them spoil the film (or Christmas for that matter). It's not a sugar-coated Disney flick, but it's also neither depressing nor without humor or joy. Bottom line, all's well that ends well.