Something magical must happen in the frozen white north of Finland. They produce incredibly rich, captivating and surprisingly sinister fantasies with apparent ease. On Dec. 12, Arkadin brings you two vastly underseen masterpieces from Suomi, a New Wave snow-globe “Alice in Wonderland” (THE SNOW QUEEN) and a thrilling ethnographic vampire reindeer ghost tale (THE WHITE REINDEER). See them both for just $5!

THE SNOW QUEEN (1986)
The most visually baroque and enchantedly nightmarish adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale! Päivi Hartzell’s THE SNOW QUEEN is a surreal and sinister film with such an astonishingly eye-popping style that it’s been enshrined as a perennial Beacon tradition. The Snow Queen, looking like a Butoh performer from Mars, needs an emerald frozen inside the ice to rule the universe with the Crown of Darkness. But she can’t access the precious stone with her own icy hands; she needs a gallant boy with warm hands to commit the deed with a mystical black sword. For this purpose she abducts Kai. The film follows Kai’s sister Kerttu on her journey to rescue her brother. Kerttu travels through beautiful and hostile lands, contending with a parade of strange and threatening characters on the way, from extravagantly costumed rococo witches to filthy glam-punk robbers hiding and singing shanties in the mountains. Director Päivi Hartzell came from a background in theatrical costume design and worked for years to bring this dream project to the screen. Cosmically strange and overflowing with a scarred sense of childlike wonder this rarely seen landmark of Finnish cinema is the perfect wintry fantasy epic!
86 min.

THE WHITE REINDEER (1952)
The directorial debut of Finnish cinematographer Erik Blomberg, THE WHITE REINDEER is one of world cinema’s criminally under-seen masterpieces. A vampiric fairy-tale set amongst the starkly beautiful fells of Finnish Lapland, Blomberg combines an almost documentary filming style with avant-garde experimentation to produce a dreamy art-house horror film without compare. A newly-married young woman, Pirita (Mirjami Kuosmanen), becomes frustrated and lonely as her husband, a reindeer herder for a small Arctic village, spends much of his time away from home in devotion to his work. Desperate for affection, she visits a shaman who offers a potion that makes her an irresistible object of desire, but there is a terrible cost. Pirita becomes a bloodthirsty shapeshifter who lures men out into the barren wilderness where she consumes them. With its portrayals of gender inequality, societal pressures and sexual anxiety (represented through animal transformation, echoes of Jacques Tourneur’s Cat People…), The White Reindeer is a timeless classic that deserves to be rediscovered and recognized as a defining film in the horror and fantasy genres.
68 min.

This film is screening as part of Arkadin’s December-long series, IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER, spotlighting films that show winter in all its dark, desolate beauty.

Arkadin does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. However, we encourage researching titles to determine if a screening may contain content that could be upsetting to you. Please feel free to contact us for guidance on specific films. Information about content can also be found on Common Sense Media, IMDB and DoesTheDogDie.com, as well as through general internet searches.

THEATER POLICIES

All seats are first-come, first-served.

The theater opens 30 minutes prior to showtime, except for “Happy Hour” events and pre-shows when the theater opens at the listed start time.

All ages are welcome at Arkadin except for Drinkolas Cage events, which are restricted to 21+. We follow the MPAA rating guidelines for all other films.

Tickets can be purchased using the BUY TICKETS link above. Upon ordering, you will receive a confirmation email from Square. Tickets may also be purchased on the day of the show at the concession counter.

If you’ve purchased advance tickets, when you arrive, please give your name at the concession counter to check in.

Tickets are returnable by sending a request through the contact form located on our About Us page prior to showtime.

When an event is sold out, we reserve the right to release open seats to customers on the waitlist. If you have a pre-purchased ticket and arrive late and there is no seat for you, your ticket will be refunded.

All screenings are held in our indoor theater unless indicated otherwise in the event description above.

Please respect your fellow movie-goers by remaining quiet and refraining from using your cell phone throughout the screening.