The White Reindeer (1952)

A 1952 horror movie about a women who transforms herself into a reindeer? Well, from this description, you might expect a cheesy B-movie rather than a lyrical, low-key film about  abandonment, fear and nature. Erik Blomberg's The White Reindeer (Valkoinen peura) is something of a hidden gem. Pirita is a young woman courted by Aslak. In the beginning of the film, we see them racing in a snow-covered landscape. However, an ominous tune has already changed the perspective and one expects something dreadful to happen. The couple is married and in a later scene, we see the woman herding a single reindeer but suddenly she sees a bigger herd, and her husband is one of the herders. That scenes is a moment when something deep takes place, but it is hard to spell out what. This is a film in which things and tensions are alluded to, hinted at rather than being dissected or clearly displayed. Something worries Pirita. One rather dull interpretation is to point out the sexual tensions between Pirita and Aslak: the film shows some advances by Pirita which are not returned.I n one of the most important scenes of the film she visits a shaman who says that he knows why she is there: he says that he can make a love potion if she sacrifices the first things she sees when she goes back, he brags about his prowess and beats his drum. All of the sudden, the camera focuses on Pirita's eyes; the drumming now continues on its own and the drum breaks. The husband goes away and as a present Pirita is offered a white reindeer. When Pirita goes back from the shaman, she sacrificed the reindeer. As the white reindeer returns in the movie, we know that it is a manifestation of Pirita's elusive and perhaps scary power. The herdsmen are convinced that the white reindeer is a witch, and they try to catch it. Interestingly, the film never settles on the nature of Pirita's power. A sense of mystery is preserved throughout.

The cinematography of Valkoinen peura is gorgeous and dynamic; the snowy landscapes is paired with shadowy huts and glaring moonlight. The reindeer are an important element of the film as it focuses on a form of life centered around these animals; the characters' relation to the animals cover a wide range and the film zones in on an ambiguity that seems to characterize the characters' attitudes to their fellow beings: reverence is paired with a desire to dominate (this ambiguity comes to the fore in the shape of the white reindeer which is a desirable catch because of its rarity). Mirjami Kuosmanen (who also wrote the story?) is great as Pirita; her acting is fierce and fragile at the same time and it is thanks to the acting that the subtlety and mystery of the film is maintained. In the end, I don't quite know what is so sinister about Pirita. A minus is the music which is at times a bit too "cinematic" and also too intrusive. Perhaps sinister is not the right word - Valkoinen peura is a bottom a film about loneliness. Pirita is abandoned by her husband when he goes to herd reindeer and the film repeatedly shows her fear of rejection and abandonment. The horror evoked by the transformation and Pirita's elusive power intermingles with a deep sadness.