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For almost a century the popular persona of a jovial, red-suited, round-faced Father Christmas has been a familiar one for many. Each year, we are led to believe, a kindly old man with supernatural powers finds his way into our rooms and brings us Christmas gifts. It is innocent, traditional and magical. Director Jalmari Helander, however, presents a frightening alternative to the tradition of Christmas Eve, set deep in remote Finland, that will have you quivering under the duvet for weeks.

Rare Exports begins in a snow drenched Finnish town a few days before Christmas where Pietari and his friend Juuso are spying on an archaeological dig. Believing that the visiting crew are digging up the tomb of Santa Claus Pietari starts to research the origin of the legend and finds out some disturbing secrets. Puzzled and frightened by what he has learnt Pietari tries to warn his friend against the arrival of Santa Claus and hatches all sorts of plans to prevent himself from being seized and spanked on Christmas Eve.

At this point Rare Exports takes a surprising turn. It moves away from the amusing worries of a child and becomes an entirely more fantastical story. When Pietari wakes up on Christmas morning to see that the bait in his father’s wolf trap has gone, he and his father little suspect the gruesome discovery that they are to find within, or the evil that they are about to encounter. A word of warning to the faint of heart; if you find yourself offended by the sight of exposed elderly men then this film is definitely not for you.

With trepidation Pietari and his father examine the wounded man that they have dragged from the wolf trap. He has a strange supernatural ability to heal, a bone-chilling way of looking at children and an extremely bedraggled red coat. Little by little Pietari convinces the adults that his fears have come true, they have captured Santa Claus and it’s quickly apparent that he has not come with good intentions.

It is easy to believe at this point in the plot that Rare Exports has revealed all the surprises that it has to offer but before the finale this unique and intriguing film has even more up its red velvet sleeve. Depicting festive cheer in a challenging and minimalist environment this film is holiday spirit stripped to the bare bones. As an example of Christmas in a different culture it is good and as a completely new reading of the Christmas Eve tradition it’s brilliant. Pietari is a great character, superbly acted, who amuses and impresses. At first intimidated, by the end of the film Pietari is unfazed by the many dangers flung in his way. His character is honest and extremely likeable.

Rare Exports, though dark, frightening and containing some very real danger for Pietari and his friends, has an extremely witty comic undertone. Like all films with an adolescent central character most of the comedy comes from the amusingly simplistic logic displayed by a child. Rare Exports does however offer something more. The outrageously surreal ending is enough to have you laughing aloud at the sheer audacity of the plot and the final solution to the escapade can only be described as genius.

This film is well conceived and fantastically made. It brings a completely different feel to a tired and worn out Christmas story and will amuse, entertain and scare the pants off viewers of any age. For the humbugs among us, who reel each year from the festive assault, this is not so much anti-Christmas but certainly Christmas with a twist.

Mitsuko Delivers is a wacky Japanese comedy starring Riisa Naka as a pregnant woman finding her way in life. Mitsuko, in the final month of her pregnancy, is very direct when dealing with people, indeed verging on insultingly blunt, but has a fantastic outlook on life which allows her to float free as the clouds from one calamitous situation to the next enriching the lives of all around her as she goes.

Lying to her parents about being in California (she was there, got pregnant and returned to Japan in secret), Mitsuko is forced to move out of her Tokyo apartment and into a set of ramshackle tenements where she briefly lived as a child. Imposing on her old bedridden landlady she explains it is “Okay. I will impose on you, and you can impose on me”. This is very much her philosophy throughout, willingly giving away the last of her change to a jobless man and then demanding taxi fare from her former landlady. “Nevermind the details” she says, go with the wind. Moving back into the tenements reunites her with Yoichi, played by Aio Nakamura, who had declared that he loved her 15 years previous and vowed to marry her. Yoichi has been waiting all this time for Mitsuko to return and so commits to take care of her child regardless of the situation – even Mitsuko is light on the details of her pregnancy, barely elaborating beyond “I don’t really know, but he was kinda big and really black”.

It’s in Mitsuko’s, to the point, one liners that the real charm of the comedy lies. That and the continually bizarre web of characters that she weaves around her as she tries to help everyone she meets. Once she puts her mind to something it gets done, merely resolutely stating “Okay” and shouldering the burdens of others – whether they like it or not. As a character she’s marvellously slapstick, ambling around on the verge of giving birth at any minute, but as she says “don’t underestimate me because I’m kinda having a baby”. Don’t be disheartened if you find her a bit rude or annoying to begin with, it just seems that’s her way, and by the end its difficult not to love her.

As the story layers begin to increase so does the overall insanity, building up into a climax that is gloriously mental. Mitsuko is charming in her blithe disregard for social norms and in her unfailing will to help all around regardless of herself. Mitsuko Delivers starts off slow with few laughs, but once it gets going the madness is delightfully entertaining.

Mitsuko Delivers is in select theatres May 11 and will be available on DVD July 9.

Bolero is a new short film from Denis Brucks that is, in his words,  a ‘unique “concept movie” about an abused boy who breaks free from his miserable life after meeting a mysterious girl who lives beyond a vent in the wall, set to Ravel’s “Bolero”‘.

Unique is probably the most apt description, it’s beautifully shot using a Red Epic camera, with intense and gripping performances. Starting off slow, the movie follows the pace of the music as it progressively builds, both in intensity and narrative, and as it builds it slowly becomes clear what a bizarre and harrowing story is being portrayed. The movie is entirely dialogue free with the story being told through the imagery on screen in conjunction with the music, and in this context Bolero takes on a very sinister edge, particularly by its dramatic climax.

There are lengthy periods of slowed down footage which extend movements into an almost dance-like quality. Quick cuts frame the somewhat ambiguous narrative, but give plenty of details for you to fill in the blanks. A boy abused by his family/guardians find comfort in the unexpected source of the altogether unexplained girl that lives behind the wall. She’s chained by the foot, but together they form a bond to overcome their oppressors. Dark, brooding, and violent; this movie exudes an intense atmosphere.

Bolero is well crafted and definitely worth checking out. Click here, or view the embed below: