Which Yule Movies Are Authentic, According To Tradition?

After watching Red One, which went the wrong way with a great idea regarding an Icelandic holiday witch wanting revenge, I had to look for better films to cleanse the palette. To seek what others haven’t researched well enough meant deciding what works who are true to what Yule movies should represent. I feel in what’s key is that it has to be set in Northern Europe. Although they don’t have to be scary, that’s the secondary theme I’m going for.

Not every film can make the grade. As much as I’d love to include Winterstilte, that was a movie I didn’t really get into. As for other ancient figures from this region, there’s plenty to choose from! There’s Frau Perchta, who preys on innocent souls in the movie, The Twelve Days before Christmas, and curiously, there aren’t any more featuring her.

Another figure who has yet to get a film is Belsnickel. It’s a shame when the countries that make up Northern Europe are ripe with lots of alpine lore. I’d love to see movies featuring Père Fouettard, the French version of Krampus, and Hans Trapp, the Christmas Scarecrow. At least Krampus has lots of love, and for a history of this character, I invite you to read my two-part article about this legend, through this link, and a list of his best of appearances in comics.

Thanks to the release of All Haunts Be Ours Volume 2, I’m able to compile a top five list. The first entry nicely looks at a pre-Christian world and is rather novel for its time.

The White Reindeer (1952)

The film is based on a Finnish legend about a lonely woman who longs to be with her beau at all hours. The couple is newly married, and sadly, there’s no honeymoon.

Pirita (Mirjami Kuosmanen) gets very lonely when he’s off to work, and when she asks a local shaman to help her out, life for the young man gets rather hairy. In what she pines for becomes more than just a Brothers Grimm tale, but perhaps a cautionary one too.

The Green Knight

Many takes of this pre-Arthurian tale exist, and as it’s more about challenging a knight’s fidelity, the other concerns also include the shifting of the seasons, testing allegiances and questioning if anyone from the Round Table of King Arthur is truly worthy of a seat. When this court is all set up to celebrate mass, the hefty giant comes in to challenge everyone in a beheading game!

Everyone is afraid. However, Gawain steps forth and has no qualms. Nobody knew that this game also represents a grander scheme, and when the giant lives and says in a year and a day’s forth hence, he will return the favour, even this nephew of the king gets nervous. The adventure that follows can make for a great movie, but so far, nobody has yet to make a faithful adaptation. Not even the latest entry got it right, because it got wonky with some future tense type visions even though much of the second act is reasonably accurate.

If the rights owner to the animated takes is smart, I’d love to see this work as a home video release. It’s thankfully available on YouTube, and this may well be the most esoteric of the lot.

Frozen 2

Nods to the pagan celebration fill the air when the Kingdom of Arendelle prepares for the coming autumn season.

Elsa’s powers are even stronger, and what makes this film work with the pagan tradition is that we have a tale that concerns something needing to return to her roots rather than anything else. Those people who know Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, “The Snow Queen” can easily figure where this sequel goes, and it’s a humdinger!

The Hogfather

Although this television film is a stretch, it acknowledges that before Santa, there was Father Christmas. He hails more from English folkloric tradition.

But in Terry Pratchett’s world, he’s named the Hogfather. This tale shares a slight similarity with Nightmare before Christmas because Death tries to play the yuletide role when the Hogfather goes missing. After seeing the film, I had to read it too, and must say both are satisfying products.

Krampuss
(original title: Þið kannist við…)

This short film at least acknowledges all that is scary regarding why a giant cat likes to prowl about during winter. Although this YouTube short film is a terrific teaser, to make a full length tale might be challenging.