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Released in 1952, Finland's cinematic work The White Reindeer represents one of the great lost classics in the rural horror style. Despite the fact that it won awards at Cannes and the Golden Globes during its time, it was largely forgotten until a stunning digital restoration was released in recent years.

Located on the barren, snowbound mountains of northern Scandinavia, the film offers an spooky, totally ethereal dark fairy tale. This territory is occasionally called the Lapland region, though the native Sámi population consider that name as pejorative.

A Chilling Introduction and Transformation

Through a haunting opening, it is prophesied that a recently born Sámi female child will transform into a sorceress. She develops into the character Piriti (portrayed by the actress Mirjami Kuosmanen), a spirited female who rebels against her isolated existence as the wife of a traveling reindeer keeper.

She seeks comfort from a nearby medicine person, but perhaps due to her innate sorcery, his love ritual backfires and transforms her into a vampire-like metamorph, cursed to pursue and devour human males in the form of a pale reindeer.

Production Vision and Inspirations

Kuosmanen authored the movie with her spouse, director and cinematographer Erik Blomberg. He merges breathtaking authentic recordings of Sámi life on this lunar terrain with dramatic visual flair that evokes silent-film expressionist filmmakers like Murnau and Fritz Lang.

Recorded in black and white and predominantly on location in the wilderness, The White Reindeer contrasts the blinding snowy whiteness with deep black Gothic scenes, and moves between them via the liminal half-light of the low Arctic sun.

Unclear and Dreamlike Narrative

While the story is straightforward and the action are plainly laid out, The White Reindeer stays open to interpretation and dreamlike. It remains uncertain exactly which historical period it’s set.

The logic of the protagonists' decisions can be obscure, and the figures appear cut adrift, separated in the vast open landscape of their environment. Moreover that rare breed of monster movie that keeps its focus directly and compassionately on the beast as its main perspective.

Kuosmanen evokes the silent greats in a performance wracked with repressed desire and a intense craving she cannot completely comprehend.

Lasting Effect

Regardless of its short hour-plus runtime, The White Reindeer can seem slow, thanks to its restrained storytelling style. But Kuosmanen’s compelling performance, Blomberg’s astonishing cinematography, and the movie’s unforgettable allegory for the way a repressive culture can vilify feminine craving will linger in your memory for a considerable time.