Christmas Story (2007)

This movie is excellent. All the actors are great and clearly know what they're doing, even the kids, and the scenes, mostly shot in Lapland, look very great. And the dialogue, while not the best imaginable, is quite decent. I can't believe I hadn't seen this great film before! So the movie begins with young Nikolas (later Santa), whose parents and little sister Aada die in an accident quite predictable but still sad. Since his parents died, the six families in the village decide to take care of him, each for a year, until after six years a famine strikes and they can't take care of an extra mouth anymore. So this lonely and grumpy carpenter called Iisakki takes Nikolas and, after at first being very rude towards him, raises him as his own son. Each Christmas, they together give gifts to the children in the village, and thus a tradition has begun...This movie is, as I already told, very good, and I'm sure this will some day become a classic.

not the original. not spectacular. but different by common story and full of emotion. a plot who seduce and remember the taste of cinnamon and the touch of snow. good performance, gentle manner to create a credible puzzle and delicate build of atmosphere. not exactly a Christmas movie. only a nice frame for an old adventure who preserves universal values of humankind. a sort of fairy tale but really special because seems be just a slice of reality past. and one of the influent ingredients is the language. and the smart science of details. it is not great or in search of prizes. it is only a honest exercise to present the root of an extraordinary event. and its purpose, a noble one, is spectacular in a warm form. a film about a miracle. and little more.

One of the more believable and realistic Santa movies I've ever seen. It is set in Lapland and is well acted with beautiful scenery and costumes. It's a great story for kids to see about how Santa came to be, why he gives presents and why he cares for children as he does.The original Finish is clearly dubbed over, but as that goes it's not really disruptive to the story at all. There's no fluffy magic or elves or flying reindeer or anything like that. But a much more believable story of a man and how the myth of Santa has grown.Highly recommended to add to your young children's annual Christmas movie list.

In most parts of Europe, St. Nicholas comes on the 6th of December, together with Knecht Ruprecht/Krampus/Schmutzli and equipped with a huge bag in order to throw the children therein who did not obey their parents during the year past. For the other children, the strange couple has nuts, oranges, apples, perhaps chocolate. But before St. Nicholas decides what to do with the children, they must recite a little poem, may it be self-made or learned by heart.In the Northern Part of Europe, originating from England and in the whole USA, also originating from England, however, St. Nicholas appears on Christmas Day bringing the children their gifts. (In Europe the Christkind itself bring the parcels on the 24th of December ... .) According to what the children, when they become older, learn, is that St. Nicholas of Myra has been a historical figure, who lived in the 3./4. centuries. However, when you look how many Patrocinia of a Nicholas there are in the Christian world, then it is clear that we cannot speak about one single person. That St. Nicholas of Myra has not been thrown out of the lists of Saints during the 2. Vatican Council (like St. George, St. Michael, St. Christoph ...) is a wonder of itself.Now, Lappland comes with a quite new, a modern and alternative interpretation: Little Nicholas became an orphan when his parents had a lethal accident on their way to seek the doctor for helping their little daughter. Since the place where Nicholas lived was a very poor fishermen's village, no family could afford to take the little boy to them. There, the priest had an idea: Each of the families should give him shelter, nourish him and care for him during one year. And always at Christmas time, in remembrance to the day when his parents died, he should change families. And so it happened. Until the boy had reached an age of about twelve years and already proved great talent in wood-carving. Then, the old and strange Isaac offered him to stay with him and learn to become a wood-craftsman. So, Nicholas grew up with the grumpy but goodhearted old man and lived with him until Isaac had do be picked up by his family because of his high age. And every year, Nicholas would carve his little wooden animals for all the children - steadily enlarging his area of distribution. And nobody know who the "Christmas-Man" was, until a nosy little girl found out Nicholas' secret. Not long after, it must have happened that God decided to take Nicholas amongst the Saints and give him his deserved place in heaven. While his closest friends stood sad on the frozen surface of the lake in which Nicholas parents and sister died, the little girl called her parents: Look up, there! And in the Heaven, St. Nicholas drove with a long carriage pulled by rein-deers through the skies, wishing every child and every parent Marry Christmas. --- An absolute highlight!