Kautokeino-opprøret (2008)

	Directed by: Nils Gaup	COUNTRY Denmark/Norway/ Sweden GENRE Historical/Drama INTERNATIONAL TITLE The Kautokeino Rebellion RUNNING TIME 100 minutes
	Produced by: Tove Kløvvik Jørgen Storm Rosenberg Jeanette Sundby
	Written by: Nils Isak Eira Nils Gaup Reidar Jönsson Tone Pelone Wahl

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Carl Johan Ruth	Mikael Persbrandt	½
Lars Levi Læstadius	Michael Nyqvist	½
Mons Somby	Mikkel Gaup	½
Aslak Hætta	Nils Gaup
Ellen Andersdatter Spein	Anni-Kristiina Juuso
Stockfleth	Bjørn Sundquist
Lars Johan Bucht	Peter Andersson
?	Jørgen Langhelle
Anne Elise Blix	Silje Holtet
Mathis Hætta	Aslat Mahtte Gaup

Review

Nils Gaup returns to the territory that gave him a handful of awards and nominations with Ofelas twenty years ago. This time, we travel back to the mid-19th century and find ourselves in the midst of a conflict between nature-loving Lapps and exploitative Norwegians in a dispute that Gaup looks to set up as something of a reversed western. Unfortunately, the conflict is not particularly well motivated from either party's point of view, and the film's premise thus comes off as forced and contrived from the outset. The background for this rebellion is rather diverse according to most historians, though in this film, there are mainly two amplified reasons: the church and the alcohol.

What should have been a powerful story is only so in segments. Most of the blame must be placed on Gaup's at times lacklustre craftsmanship (the sets and camera angles do little to enhance the spatial feel) and the one-note acting (Bjørn Sundquist is completely ill-placed here, and Mikael Persbrandt's performance is mostly about showing off). Kautokeino-oppgjøret doesn't come alive until the very end, but by then there have been too many large words and pompous explanations. Compared to Ofelas, this film doesn't offer a particularly nuanced portrait of the Lapps' way of life. Only the flocks of reindeer seem to be authentically represented.