VALKOINEN PEURA (1952)
aka The White Reindeer
Article 2615 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-2-2008
Posting Date: 10-10-2008
Directed by Erik Blomberg
Featuring Mirjami Kuosmanen, Kalervo Nissila, Ake Lindman
Country: Finland

A woman gets a shaman to cast a spell to bring her husband back. The spell works, but there’s a side effect; the woman now transforms into a reindeer intent on leading men to their deaths.

I had to use some plot summaries I found to sort out some of the plot details above, as my copy of the movie is in Finnish without subtitles. It’s basically a werewolf (or werereindeer, as the case may be) story of sorts, but it seems very well acted, and it has the added boost of having a wonderful setting; it takes place in the snow-covered wilds of Lapland, where natives herd reindeer for a living. The footage of these people among their herds of reindeer are truly evocative, and it makes the movie a real visual treat. I always like it when a movie brings me into a different culture. There are some great scenes here; two of my favorites include a scene where a man who survived an encounter with the reindeer recognizes the woman as its alter ego and accuses her of being a witch (which is what I assume the word “noita” stands for), and one in which the woman must endure seeing all the men of the village forge weapons to be used to destroy the menace. Much of the movie is shot like a silent, with no talking but lots of background music. I found this one striking and memorable, even in its unsubtitled state.