Christmas Story (2007)

The touching story of how Santa Claus came to be Santa.

Director:

Juha Wuolijoki

Writers:

Marko Leino (screenplay), Marko Leino (story)

Stars:

Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Otto Gustavsson, Jonas Rinne

5 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hannu-Pekka Björkman	...	Nikolas
Otto Gustavsson	...	Nikolas 13-vuotiaana
Jonas Rinne	...	Nikolas 7-vuotiaana
Kari Väänänen	...	Iisakki
Minna Haapkylä	...	Kristiina
Mikko Leppilampi	...	Hannus
Mikko Kouki	...	Eemeli
Oskari Heimonen	...	Eemeli 11-vuotiaana
Roi Ron	...	Eemeli 5-vuotiaana
Laura Birn	...	Aada
Nella Siilasmaa	...	Aada 9-vuotiaana
Antti Tuisku	...	Mikko
Alpo Sipilä	...	Mikko 9-vuotiaana
Matti Ristinen	...	Einari
Eeva Soivio	...	Aleksandra

Storyline

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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Plot Keywords:

christmas | santa | toy | carpenter | santa claus | 

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild thematic elements and brief smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Joulutarina [Finland]

Country:

Finland

Language:

Finnish

Release Date:

16 November 2007 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Christmas Story

Filming Locations:

Levi, Kittilä, Finland

Box Office

Budget:

€2,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Scarpe Diem Productions, Snapper Films Oy

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Näin tehtiin Joulutarina (2007)

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Soundtracks

Lapikaspolkka
Es. ja Sov. Markku Lepistö & Co
Säv. Trad
© Aito Records 2001

User Reviews

Great Movie for the older kids and adults of all ages

I liked this movie having seen it in the English dubbed version. I was not aware of any of the actors so the for-mentioned appearance of a Finnish Pop Star (Antti Tuisku) wasn't something I was looking for and felt the character blended in well as it was kept short.

For those that mention this Santa version vs the USA version, I have only one thing to say....The North Pole is in Canada, not the USA. And I think the Finnish version did a nice job of giving Santa (of any version) that classic look of what he may have seemed like in the beginning. For reference purposes the USA/Canadian version of Santa was created by the Coca Cola company for advertisement purposes and was never meant to become the North American standard version.

The movie to me was sad, funny and thoughtful. I thought it went a long way to give a classic children's myth a realistic beginning. My three daughters (21, 18 & 13) watched this with me and all loved it. The only complaint was the dubbing. They had never seen a foreign movie before and assumed no matter where it was made the lips should match the English words......kids.

I gave this movie a high rating based on what I saw. I don't look at the cinematography or pay much attention to musical scores. I watch a movie and it either resonates with me or it doesn't and this one did.

My only regret is that I don't speak Finnish so I could judge the difference between the acting and hearing the characters as they were written as opposed to the overdub.