Valkoinen peura AKA The White Reindeer (1952) FotW #327

[Cocoa]

Film of the Week #327: Valkoinen peura AKA The White Reindeer (1952)



Summary:
A newly wed woman goes to the local shaman to get some help with her lovelife, but instead gets turned into a white reindeer vampire.

#283 on 500<400, with 333 checks.
Nominated by Minkin and xianjiro.
On IMDb
On iCM

From the 500<400 results

#283(NEW) Valkoinen peura (1952)
[The White Reindeer]

Directed by: Erik Blomberg
(352.22 Pts, 15 Votes) , Top 1–10–50: 0–0–1
History: 283←750←466←1429←3772←NA←NA

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ICheckMovies: 308 Checks , 23 Favourites , 3 Official lists

List of Voters:

paul281f (14)
weirdboy (NA)
Traveller (51)
PynchonesquePatrick (52)
Cinepolis (83)
klaus78 (118)
rnilsson19 (133)
nimimerkillinen (157)
Lonewolf2003 (NA)
frbrown (177)
John Milton (185)
Mate_cosido (NA)
Smoover (NA)
XxXApathy420XxX (525)
Cocoa (663)

This movie fits the current Nordic Challenge.



Here is a schedule of all the FotWs.

[Cocoa]

This film also fits the 1950s challenge. The short summary for this film always makes me laugh. I enjoyed the film, but haven't watched it in years.

[erde]

This film also fits the Nordic challenge, since it's from Finland. It's one of my favourite Finnish films. Not as silly as the short summary suggests.

[Fergenaprido]

I thought this was an okay film. I still think it's a little bit silly, but it does have some great scenes, and it's definitely an interesting premise that you don't see often.

I gave it a 7/10 when I saw it a few years ago.

[Coryn]

The premise looked great but the execution ... meh

Saw it last year and think I gave it a 6,5

[peeptoad]

I gave it a 7/10 when I saw it a few years ago.

Same. The details completely elude me now, but I recall solid visuals, photography and a beautiful landscape...

[kongs_speech]

This film also fits the Nordic challenge, since it's from Finland. It's one of my favourite Finnish films. Not as silly as the short summary suggests.

I've seen several people with those neat signatures. Where does one acquire such a thing?

Also, if anyone wants to link me to this film, I'd be happy to watch and discuss. If not, that's totally fine and I understand.

[Fergenaprido]

This film also fits the Nordic challenge, since it's from Finland. It's one of my favourite Finnish films. Not as silly as the short summary suggests.

I've seen several people with those neat signatures. Where does one acquire such a thing?

Also, if anyone wants to link me to this film, I'd be happy to watch and discuss. If not, that's totally fine and I understand.

You can get the signatures for all official lists here: https://www.icheckmovies.com/signature/

Check your inbox in about half an hour for the film.

[erde]

I've seen several people with those neat signatures. Where does one acquire such a thing?

Just go to the link that Fergenaprido sent, choose a signature and copy the HTML or UBB code there. Then go to your forum profile > edit profile > edit signature, and paste the code there. Voilà.

[kongs_speech]

Thanks to both of you!

[maxwelldeux]

Watched this today and was rather underwhelmed... (5/10)

Spoiler

It took at least 25% of the film to get to the entire point of it, and it was boring for me along the way to that point. Then, the big reveal is... stupid. Magic. Magic guy say things, magic girl turns into a reindeer. I don't do well with supernatural premises and this was too out there for my tastes.

Some great visuals for sure, like others have said, which saved the overall experience for me; it was also nice seeing how people live in such a northern climate at the time and utilize reindeer and how they get around on sleds and skis. But it falls into the camp of films I'd go out of my way to avoid seeing again.

[shugs]

Watched it three months ago. Great visuals, but pretty dull. 6/10

[Cinepolis]

Watched it for the last 50s challenge in 2019. Even bought the Masters of Cinema release. I enjoyed the visuals and folklore narrative.

[blocho]

This seems like one of the more divisive films of the week I can remember.

[kongs_speech]

I really enjoyed this last night. It reminded me of a Val Lewton production, especially something along the lines of Cat People. The cinematography was very nice as well. I was talking to my Dutch friend last night after I saw the film, and he sent me a picture of his Masters of Cinema Blu-Ray, so apparently it's a more well-known film than I thought.

[erde]

I really enjoyed this last night. It reminded me of a Val Lewton production, especially something along the lines of Cat People. The cinematography was very nice as well.

I made the same connection myself. I really enjoyed the strong metaphysical vibe of the movie, as well as the great visuals, when I saw it years ago. I recall a similar elevated, meditative atmosphere than in e.g. I walked with a zombie.

[blocho]

Plot and characters are a bit threadbare, but there's some beautiful snowy landscape photography and a few great sequences that verge on surrealism.

[mathiasa]

I watched it just now in a kind of exalted and sleepy state. In the park nearby, where I often walk my old pug, there's now because of Corona, on Sundays and free days always an assembly of wanna-be policemen. These security workers can't refrain from always telling me to put the dog on leash. And this while he's actually on a leash, it's just that it's a check cord that' meant to be kept at ground and when dangers lurks one steps on it. Of course the bright bulbs don't understand this, and I get always very easily enervated by (unnatural) authorities so I took the double dosage of all my calm down meds and therefore I'm a bit high now and it's hard to stay awake. But I still have an elevated heart reason. Only writing this to calm down. Hopefully, the next movie is doing a better job but I love the cinematography and it's interesting at times. 6.8/10

[xianjiro]

Good snowy landscape movie. Meh story. I sort of vaguely remember Cat People enough to get the references, but there are some things that trouble me - maybe part of this is the translation I had to work with.

Old man travels the Arctic snowlands with a goat for a companion preforming magic and yet the woman who comes to him because she misses her husband is the 'witch.' No, not the least bit sexist.

The 'witch' - who if I understood correctly was 'born that way' - grows fangs and either drinks the blood of her male victims or eats their flesh. This is conveniently left to our (bored) imaginations.

When the 'witch' changes into her animal form she also becomes male (note the 'horn' on the belly, unless reindeer have a different mammary structure than other ungulates. Not really sure what this says about the men of the frozen north other than maybe "Finland, where the men are men and male reindeer are nervous"?

When the 'witch' returns to the altar and bangs her fists on it, it clearly gives way suggesting fabric or maybe leather. In the next shot, her hands are on very solid rock.

Sorry, can't resist the pun given what I just saw, but this one left me cold. 6/10