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The White Reindeer

Original title: Valkoinen peura
  • 19521952
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 14m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
1.8K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Valkoinen peura (1952)
  • Drama
  • Fantasy
  • Horror
A newlywed woman goes to the local shaman to get some help with her love life, but instead she gets turned into a white reindeer vampire.A newlywed woman goes to the local shaman to get some help with her love life, but instead she gets turned into a white reindeer vampire.A newlywed woman goes to the local shaman to get some help with her love life, but instead she gets turned into a white reindeer vampire.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
1.8K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Erik Blomberg
  • Writers
    • Erik Blomberg
    • Mirjami Kuosmanen
  • Stars
    • Mirjami Kuosmanen
    • Kalervo Nissilä
    • Åke Lindman
Top credits
  • Director
    • Erik Blomberg
  • Writers
    • Erik Blomberg
    • Mirjami Kuosmanen
  • Stars
    • Mirjami Kuosmanen
    • Kalervo Nissilä
    • Åke Lindman
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 11User reviews
    • 46Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 wins & 1 nomination

    Photos22

    Valkoinen peura (1952)
    Mirjami Kuosmanen and Kalervo Nissilä in Valkoinen peura (1952)
    Mirjami Kuosmanen in Valkoinen peura (1952)
    Mirjami Kuosmanen in Valkoinen peura (1952)
    Mirjami Kuosmanen and Kalervo Nissilä in Valkoinen peura (1952)
    Mirjami Kuosmanen in Valkoinen peura (1952)
    Mirjami Kuosmanen and Kalervo Nissilä in Valkoinen peura (1952)
    Mirjami Kuosmanen in Valkoinen peura (1952)
    Åke Lindman in Valkoinen peura (1952)
    Mirjami Kuosmanen and Kalervo Nissilä in Valkoinen peura (1952)
    Mirjami Kuosmanen in Valkoinen peura (1952)
    Åke Lindman in Valkoinen peura (1952)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Mirjami Kuosmanen
    Mirjami Kuosmanen
    • Piritaas Pirita…
    Kalervo Nissilä
    • Aslakas Aslak
    Åke Lindman
    Åke Lindman
    • Metsänhoitajaas Metsänhoitaja
    Jouni Tapiola
    • Niilaas Niila
    Arvo Lehesmaa
    • Tsalkku-Nillaas Tsalkku-Nilla
    Matti Haapamäki
    • Poropaimenas Poropaimen
    • (uncredited)
    Tyyne Haarla
    • Vanhempi nainenas Vanhempi nainen
    • (uncredited)
    Pentti Irjala
    • Puhemiesas Puhemies
    • (uncredited)
    Edvin Kajanne
    • Poromiesas Poromies
    • (uncredited)
    Kauko Laurikainen
    • Mies kodassaas Mies kodassa
    • (uncredited)
    Heimo Lepistö
    • Rikas äijäas Rikas äijä
    • (uncredited)
    Osmo Osva
    • Poromiesas Poromies
    • (uncredited)
    Tauno Rova
    • Poromiesas Poromies
    • (uncredited)
    Jarl Siekkinen
    • Poropaimenas Poropaimen
    • (uncredited)
    Aulis Silvonen
    • Poropaimenas Poropaimen
    • (uncredited)
    Eljas Taina
    • Poropaimenas Poropaimen
    • (uncredited)
    Aarne Tarkas
    Aarne Tarkas
    • Sulhanenas Sulhanen
    • (uncredited)
    Inke Tarkas
    • Morsianas Morsian
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Erik Blomberg
    • Writers
      • Erik Blomberg
      • Mirjami Kuosmanen
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Only Finnish film to win a Golden Globe.
    • Goofs
      The movie depicts Sámi people but instead of Sámi languages they speak Finnish, even to each other. It is true that the Sámi speech community has been shifting towards Finnish in Finland, but the total absence of Sámi languages in the dialogue is not plausible.
    • Connections
      Featured in Erik Blomberg - elämä ja kamera (1982)

    User reviews11

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Unique, moody, compelling.
    The Finnish film 'White Reindeer' is marketed in the USA and Britain as a horror movie, but that's not precisely accurate. This is a stark, moody film but not a scary one. It purports to be an authentic Lapp folktale about a woman named Pirita who turns into a white reindeer in order to feed upon men.

    This story has elements of both the vampire and the werewolf legend, as well as the succubus. Apart from reindeer being native to Lapland, I can't imagine why the reindeer was chosen as the species for this folktale's version of the shape-changer legend. Bats and wolves are predators, and therefore scary. The reindeer is a domesticated herbivore that serves humans ... not very spooky, is it? In one sequence, the were-reindeer woman sprouts fangs. Actual reindeer don't have fangs, so why should these be part of her transformation? Female reindeer have antlers, so why doesn't Pirita sprout antlers?

    Speaking of superstitions and myths: early in this film, a black cat scurries across the path of an approaching sledge, but the director gives this so little emphasis that it appears to have no significance. In Cornwall, it's considered *good* luck to have a black cat cross one's path, and this same thing is considered *bad* luck in America. Do Lapps have any superstitions concerning black cats?

    Mirjami Kuosmanen, the actress who plays the central role in this film, is quite pretty ... but her performance as a native of northern Lapland is weakened by the fact that she is clearly wearing makeup. Due to the low production budget, we never actually see Pirita changing into the reindeer ... but the director cleverly gets round this by having his leading lady lunge towards the camera, then cutting to a shot of a reindeer in the same position. Still, I was hoping we would see a shot of a woman's shadow changing shape ... or a series of human footprints in the snow abruptly becoming hoof-marks.

    The Lapp landscape in this movie is starkly beautiful and awesome but never frightening. The photography is excellent. There are two impressive dissolve shots involving flames, and a splendid montage sequence. I was extremely impressed by a night sequence over a bonfire. During the Midnight Sun sequences, there are two shots featuring a weird colonnade of white pillars: these appear to be artefacts of the Lapp culture, but we never learn what they are. A sequence in which a carved vertrebra dances magically across a shaman's drum has an eerie pagan power that made me think of Nijinsky's staging of 'The Rites of Spring'.

    My one complaint about this film -- a minor grievance -- is that we never learn the time period in which the main action occurs. These Laplanders possess milled coins, a rifle, and loomed curtains. One sequence takes place at a prayer service that is clearly Christian, featuring a minister in Geneva bands. Are we watching scenes in the twentieth century, or some earlier time? I'll rate this moody, compelling (but not frightening) film 8 out of 10. Oh, my deer! I Lapped this up!
    helpful•19
    8
    • F Gwynplaine MacIntyre
    • Mar 29, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • 1957 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Finland
    • Language
      • Finnish
    • Also known as
      • Das weiße Rentier
    • Filming locations
      • Otsamo Fell, Inari, Finland
    • Production company
      • Junior-Filmi
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $33,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 14 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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