Written by Jusso Helander & Jalmari Helander
Directed by Jalmari Helander
Rare Exports is a movie that could have only come from Finland, a fable realized in the real world. I've seen a lot of comparisons to Joe Dante's films, and that's an accurate depiction, Rare Exports is technically a family film. Without all the naked old men and gore it's about one boy trying to prove Santa's existence, in a very different way.
Jusso and his friend Rauno are exploring the restricted area where a group of scientists claim they are doing seismic tests on the mountain above Jusso's house. Jusso and Rauno clip the gate to sneak in to see what they are up to. Unimpressed, they leave.
When their fathers, reindeer farmers by trade, go to herd the reindeer, they find a horrible tragedy, their reindeer, have all been eaten, large chunks taken out of their side. Piiparinen and Pietari, the fathers, blame the hole in the fence for whatever ate their reindeer, and they feel it's the scientists doing the testing responsible.
Terrified to tell their fathers the truth, Jusso and Rauno play along, going with their fathers up the mountain to confront the scientists and demand payment for their lost reindeer. Upon arrival, all the scientists are gone, but a voice on the radio asks if Santa is ready for shipment.
From here, the film turns on its head, exploring the Finnish legend of Santa, a beastly, hulking creature that doesn't give presents to anyone, he merely destroys naughty people.
I love genre filmmaking, but never did I expect I'd see a Santa Claus film like this. It's a wonderfully made film, with a sense of Christmtas wonder throughout, and this all comes together nicely to tell a very twisted Christmas tale. I won't spoil the plot, even though it's roughly the same from the original Rare Exports short, but I love the direction it goes in and the twisted view it takes on the commercialism of Christmas.
Rare Exports is the perfect Christmas film for people like me, it doesn't take Christmas wonder seriously, but at the same time they present every scene with a magical touch, which is in stark contrast to the very real problems of the characters in the film.
In the end, my only complaint is I thought that the film would be darker in tone overall, but it's kept pretty light, with the few exceptions of old man penis and Santa explosions. The final scenes reminded me of Polar Express, and some of it could have been to do with the cheap CGI, but I like to think they just managed to capture the special feel of a child at Christmastime.
9.1/10
No comments:
Post a Comment