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:

EUR2,500,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,258,430

Company Credits

Production Co:

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 Making of Christmas Story (2007)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

It's not candy canes and singing elves.

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.