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Released in 1952, Finland's movie The White Reindeer stands as one of the remarkable lost classics in the folk horror category. Despite the fact that it won awards at the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Globe Awards back then, it was largely forgotten until a gorgeous 4K remaster started doing the rounds in recent years.

Set on the barren, snow-covered fells of northern Scandinavia, the picture delivers an uncanny, completely ethereal dark fairy tale. This region is occasionally called Lapland, though the local Sámi community view that designation as derogatory.

The Chilling Introduction and Metamorphosis

Through a haunting prologue, it is predicted that a recently born Sámi girl will turn into a witch. She grows into the character Piriti (played by Mirjami Kuosmanen), a determined woman who chafes against her isolated life as the partner of a roaming reindeer herder.

She seeks relief from a regional medicine person, but possibly because of her natural magical abilities, his romance spell fails and changes her into a vampiric metamorph, doomed to track and devour males in the form of a white reindeer.

Creative Style and Inspirations

Kuosmanen wrote the screenplay with her partner, director and director of photography Erik Blomberg. He merges breathtaking authentic recordings of Sámi culture on this lunar environment with intense artistic style that evokes silent-film expressionist filmmakers like Murnau and Fritz Lang.

Shot in monochrome and mostly on location in the wilderness, White Reindeer contrasts the glaring bright snow with pitch-black Gothic tableaux, and transitions between them via the liminal twilight of the low Arctic sun.

Unclear and Dreamlike Narrative

While the plot is simple and the plot developments are clearly presented, The White Reindeer continues to be open to interpretation and dreamlike. It remains uncertain exactly which historical period it’s set.

The logic of the characters' actions can be obscure, and the characters appear cut adrift, separated in the immense negative space of their environment. Moreover that unique category of monster movie that keeps its focus directly and sympathetically on the beast as its main perspective.

The lead actress embodies the silent film legends in a acting filled with sexual frustration and a powerful hunger she struggles to grasp.

Lasting Influence

Despite its brief hour-plus duration, White Reindeer can feel deliberate, thanks to its minimalist cinematic technique. But the lead actress's powerful acting, Blomberg’s incredible cinematography, and the film's haunting symbolism for the way a oppressive culture can stigmatize female desire will stay in your thoughts for a considerable time.