A Rare Christmas Film! |
You know the type of film I’m referring too, its normally
pretty dreadful but because of this ‘season to be jolly’ rubbish people feel they
have to profess to love it - even if it is a load of cack. This was brought
home when Film Club regular Alec Barclay read out a list of the top ten
Christmas films that included the usual seasonal dross like It’s
a Wonderful Life (1946), Love
Actually (2003) or Home Alone
(1990) – I rest my case. But as it turned out the final Robert Burns Centre
Film Theatre Film Club of 2014 was far removed from the traditional Christmas
fare, which Mr Barclay described as a cross between deadpan humour and
Christmas horror. I must admit that I love the idea of Santa being evil or as
Peter Bradshaw reminded us in his film review, “Santa is an anagram of Satan”[1]
“It’s a rare Christmas movie that does not require a sick
bag and Jalmari Helander’s Rare Exports – A Christmas Tale (2010)
is one that certainly doesn’t! It’s basic premise offers an alternative to the
standard Christmas brief where parents reward their off springs for being good
little dears. In this film Father Christmas’s elves goes from home to home
punishing the little retches for being naughty and disobedient in the twelve
months prior to what we laughingly refer to as the festive season… Now that
would save you a few bob?
In this Finish fantasy a American scientists instructs his
team of workman to dig open ‘the largest burial mound in the world.’ Using
explosives to uncover the sacred grave, he discovered that what ever is buried
there is packed tightly in sawdust, but the most startling discovery is that
the mounds inhabitant is still breathing! The local reindeer farmer’s awake one
morning to find their stock, which they depend on for their income, has been
decimated. They also discover that the heating radiators have been stolen from
all the homes in the village? A brave local boy, Pietari, soon realises that
this mystery concerns the original Santa Claus myth a supernatural being that
punishes children. A rare Finish export indeed”.
Have a Divine
Christmas everyone.
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