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The 1952, Finland's movie White Reindeer is considered one of the remarkable forgotten masterpieces in the folk horror genre. Although it won accolades at the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Globe Awards back then, it remained forgotten until a breathtaking 4K restoration started doing the rounds in recent years.

Placed on the barren, snow-covered mountains of Sápmi, the picture delivers an eerie, utterly supernatural grim folktale. This region is occasionally called the Lapland region, though the local Sámi people view that designation as pejorative.

The Eerie Introduction and Metamorphosis

Via a memorable opening, it is predicted that a newborn young Sámi female will transform into a witch. She grows into the character Piriti (acted by Mirjami Kuosmanen), a strong-willed lady who rebels against her lonely life as the spouse of a wandering reindeer keeper.

She attempts to find solace from a nearby spiritual healer, but perhaps due to her natural magical abilities, his love ritual backfires and turns her into a vampire-like shape-shifter, cursed to pursue and feed on men in the guise of a pale reindeer.

Creative Vision and Influences

Kuosmanen co-wrote the movie with her husband, director and director of photography Erik Blomberg. He merges breathtaking documentary footage of Sámi culture on this otherworldly environment with powerful stylization that recalls silent-film expressionist filmmakers like Murnau and Lang.

Recorded in monochrome and almost entirely on actual settings in the wilderness, The White Reindeer juxtaposes the dazzling whiteout with dark Gothic tableaux, and shifts between them via the in-between half-light of the Arctic winter sun.

Mysterious and Surreal Plot

Even though the story is straightforward and the events are plainly laid out, The White Reindeer continues to be unclear and ethereal. It remains uncertain exactly when in history it’s taking place.

The logic of the protagonists' decisions can be hard to decipher, and the individuals appear cut adrift, separated in the immense empty space of their setting. Moreover that uncommon type of monster movie that keeps its focus directly and sympathetically on the beast as its point-of-view character.

Kuosmanen channels the early cinema icons in a acting wracked with repressed desire and a powerful hunger she cannot completely comprehend.

Lasting Effect

Despite its brief hour-plus running time, The White Reindeer can seem leisurely, thanks to its sparse storytelling style. But the lead actress's vivid acting, the director's incredible visuals, and the movie’s haunting allegory for the way a restrictive culture can vilify female desire will stay in your memory for a extended period.