The Movie
Way up north, where Finland borders Russia, a mining team makes a totally unexpected discovery deep within a snow-covered mountain. They just might have discovered the final resting place of the real, original Santa Claus, which of course raises all sorts of questions. Santa is real? How did he get down there? And what will happen to Christmas once he is dug up?
A local boy starts researching the history of Father Christmas, and learns that the old man is nothing like "The Coca-Cola Santa" of popular culture, instead determined to punish naughty children with beatings or boilings or worse. And so Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale chooses to focus on the dark side of Santa, a revelation for folks like me who never knew this existed. Fearful, angry people trapped the not-so-jolly holiday visitor long ago, and as the excavation continues, bad things begin to happen in the town below.
Hundreds of reindeer are found dead. As Christmas Eve arrives, children are suddenly missing. And the locals trap a wordless, feral, naked codger ... who might be Santa Claus?
Rare Exports is nothing short of a mind-blowing post-modern treatise on the "truth" about Santa Claus, funny (winter hats are inherently goofy-looking, but it goes much deeper) and frightening and certainly not for the kids. But it is outstanding alternative yuletide programming for the adults.
The Picture
The 2.35:1 image exhibits rich, natural blacks, particularly in the nighttime scenes, with strong colors throughout. There's an exceptional clarity evident in the weave of the sweaters and in the immediacy of the serious adult faces, with a touch of noise on fine textures in the distance, as we would expect. Even a fine snowfall--CGI and the real thing--is precisely rendered. No lump of coal here.
The Sound
There's a satisfying bass presence throughout the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 channel soundtrack (called out by the player as English, but mostly in the original Finnish), which also boasts a full, wide mix of the compelling musical score. Surrounds are used generously, the resulting spaciousness helping to imply the large scale of several key locations. Directionality is bold and convincing, while wind blows icily and frequently behind us.
Nice.
The Extras
If you haven't caught them online already, I would hold off on watching the two short prequel films--Rare Exports Inc. (2003, seven minutes) and The Official Rare Exports Inc. Safety Instructions (2005, eleven minutes)--until after you've seen the feature film. They take us further into the black humor of this world, but at the expense of the movie's freaky final twist which goes on to explain the title. Both of these are in standard definition.
The 28-minute, Finnish "making of" is high-def, as are the three-minute reel of scenes intercut with some creepy concept paintings, and the top/bottom before-and-after special effects/animatics comparisons from a couple of Act III sequences. And in one of the craziest bonuses ever, Oscilloscope has gifted us with the full 80-minute Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, a staple on lists of the worst movies ever made. This would-be holiday classic stars an eight-year-old Pia Zadora who, for you younger readers, would grow up to be sort of my generation's Paris Hilton. It is presented in 4:3 standard definition and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.
Disc Two is a DVD with the movie and everything else except the second feature. I also stumbled onto one Easter egg... or is it a Christmas present?
Final Thoughts
This movie itself is a rare export, a foreign-language film that riffs keenly on Hollywood fare while also giving us something totally new, weird and wonderful. And the Blu-ray brings its own sack full of HD/SD goodies, sure to be a hit under an independent film buff's tree, if you can wait until December 25th to open it.
Product Details
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