Watch Christmas Story For Free

People are voting emotionally.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The acting in this movie is really good.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Beautiful. If I were forced to choose a single word to describe Wuolijoki's Christmas Story, that is what it would be. Beautiful. Christmas Story is, for me, one of the most pleasant surprises of the season. Others have already summarized the plot extremely well, so I won't waste your time describing the story line. What you should know is this: Positives: Stunning cinematography. You will be hard pressed to find a more luminous and atmospheric film. The otherworldly, fairy-tale, winters of Finland are captured with a richness reminiscent of the resplendent winter scenes in Polanski's Fearless Vampire Killers. (In spite of the dubbing) The performances are world class, but the beautiful and talented Laura Birn truly shines in her role as Aada. Negatives: The presentation offered no option for subtitles/original language. The dubbing is distracting and I think ultimately works to pull the viewer out of the otherwise magical experience. Film is shaped by many elements, and the auditory component is arguably more important than the visual. I think the film would regain some lost magic if our ears were offered the indulgence of enjoying the film in its original language. Although American audiences may not respond well to the film's tiptoed pace and lack of shallow Hollywood glitter, given the opportunity to enjoy some depth in their film viewing experience, Wuolijoki's Christmas Story will open many unsuspecting eyes to what holiday themed film-making should be.

The Christmas story, Joulutarina, is a heartwarming story of the Finnish Santa Claus. Heartwarming maybe to Finns, though not to many who prefer the red American Santa Claus. I had to see this a few times before it settled in. It's not a master piece, but what made me grade it as high as I did, beside the main plot and a few good Finnish actors, was the beautiful, beautiful landscape. Very nice to watch. Lapland in cold winter.A few minus points: the sun is not that high as shown in the film during Christmas, actually the sun doesn't shine much at all in Lapland during December.Part of the scenes and sets were a bit cheesy, for example going down in the woodshed for the first time. The candles were blazing when Nikolaus and Iisakki went down for the first time, though it is assumable that no-one had been down there yet that day. Who knows.One particular factor that really bugged me was the use of language throughout the whole film - modern Finnish was used, with some slangy words and sayings of this time. They absolutely did not fit in along. Antti Tuisku. Nononono. Absolutely fake.All in all, though, a nifty package.

This film is one mixed bag. Technically it couldn't be any better. The cinematography by Mika Orasmaa is masterful and the soundtrack by Leri Leskinen does not fall short of the visuals. The Lappish scenery is magnificent and the movie props and costumes create a remarkably romantic and fairy tale-like atmosphere without losing a sense of reality. I was captivated by the execution of the film.That being said, the acting is highly inconsistent - at best great (Kari Väänänen) and at worst performed by a former Finnish idols runner-up, Antti Tuisku (you can't make that up). This may or may not be a problem with the dubbed English version, but it sure as hell stands out like a sore thumb in the Finnish-spoken original here and there. The dialogue, it must be said, at times makes George Lucas seem like a pretty decent screenwriter.As for the story, it may not be for everyone. There are scenes that border the questionable for a children's' movie about Santa, although certainly none of them spoil the film (or Christmas for that matter). It's not a sugar-coated Disney flick, but it's also neither depressing nor without humor or joy. Bottom line, all's well that ends well.

OK, so the scenery was great and the photography nice, but that's not why I rented this DVD. I wanted to see a nice heartwarming Christmas story. This was not what I considered to be a good "family" picture. It is dark and depressing at parts. I'm sure the translation loses something and the way people see "Santa" is different overseas.In the Netherlands they have an assistant to Saint Nick that frightens bad children, so not every culture is the same. Parts of the English dubbing were so poor the characters simply grumbled or made noises to cover lip movement of the original Finnish.But, taking all the high points and low points together about this film I would still not recommend it for American kids under 10.Obviously I did not enjoy this dark and poorly told story of Finnish/Lapland Santa Clause. I don't think most Americans will relate to the story.