Film Reviews

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

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• Details: Finland / 90mins (16).

Remember Bill Murray's ideas for Christmas movies in Scrooged? He would have loved this one. This might be released at Christmas, have 'Christmas' in the title, set in 'Lapland', and feature Santa and his helpers but to call this a Christmas movie would be a mistake. It's an altogether darker, gothic affair (think the Sigourney Weaver/Sam Nell remake of Snow White) where kids carry a teddy in one hand and rifle in the other... and it still manages to be funny. Yep, an odd one alright and definitely not one for the kids.
10-year-old Pietari (Tommila) has been counting down the days to Christmas, but not with the relish or the fevered expectation one would expect from a kid. No, Pietari is dreading the advent of Christmas Eve because he has discovered that Santa, the 'real' Santa, is not the benevolent giver of gifts or the jolly fat man in the red suit as Coca Cola would have him, but a demon looking to strike hard (and eat) those who have been naughty. That was all fine and well until an excavation company unearthed Santa's centuries old ice prison deep in the Korvatunturi Mountains and he and his helpers are on the prowl for kids who haven't been nice. Don't you hate it when that happens?
Imagine if The Brothers Grimm had a stab at turning the idea of Christmas on its head, and mix that with elements of The Goonies and The Thing, and what you've got is indeed a rare Christmas movie outing. Scary, funny and bizarre, Rare Exports is the best movie that boasts naked old men impaled on stakes in bear pits to be released this year. But writer-director Helander seems unaware he's got something truly original here and is unsure what to do with what he's got; after a patient build up, he rushes through the rest of his film as if he can't wait until it's over. The movie is harshly divided in two: set up and climax with little or nothing in the way of a second act. It's this brevity in the business part of the movie that lets Rare Exports down, as, suddenly, after careful dedication to a spooky tone, Helander unleashes wacky and unexpected twists that struggle to sit right with what went before.
But if you're looking to avoid those nicey-nice Christmas movies, this is one to look out for. Have you been naughty or nice?

Review by Gavin Burke