Rare Exports:A Christmas Tale (2010)

Film of 2012 #55

This film is from Finland it is based upon a folk tale they have around Santa Claus, which is a very different story to what the Western representation of Santa Claus. This film is subtitled and is very much a cultural film and therefore it will not appeal to everybody. I think that it is supposed to be a comedy and there are certainly elements that make you smile but you have to be aware before going in that there is an element of comedy. You follow a young boy called Pietari Kontio played by Onni Tommila whose real life father Jorma Tommila plays his father in the film. Upon research this film is the 3rd film in a trilogy with the first two parts being short films that this story was adapted from.

This is quite a dark film and there are some adult scenes with some male genitalia on show at the later part of the film and there are some scenes of blood and gore. I think that if you can see the comedy in this film and appreciate it as a whimsical comedy then you will really enjoy it. The acting is strong enough and the effects while not brilliant are not terrible, there are some issues around being comfortable where the story goes and why they do what they suggest at the end but overall this is a fun film.

There are not enough foreign films that I really enjoy but if you liked things like Let the Right One In then while this is not in the same league as that film there is a certain level of enjoyment within this Christmas film, 3 star recommend if you do subtitles.

Raymond Did It (2011)

I saw this film at HHW and to be honest it left such a small impression on me I had forgotten that I had seen it, says so much to me about this film. I am not a fan of low budget amateur film making and to be honest having been to my first convention that shows amateur films I will not be rushing back to see a lot of them in the future.

In my experience it was not actually that bad of a film, some of the kill scenes were actually inventive and gory and looked good, but the acting was pretty bad and the whole thing felt like it was dragging on, I think that if this film was cut to 60 minutes from the 85 minute run time then it could have been more engaging but it did drag quite a bit in the middle and I did not really care for any of the characters.

I am going to be generous and say 2 stars for the sheer effort of the director and I think that if given the opportunity and a bit of guidance he will be able to go far, there were some glimmers of great ideas within the film.